It’s the morning after the night before, and we bring you all the best sights and sounds from the watch parties in the nation’s capital.
asserted
we → ’ → capital
Plus, what went wrong for Republicans and what went right for pollsters?
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what → go → pollsters
Tuesday night’s buffet is laid out with sliders, pizza slices, and cold cuts.
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buffet → lay → sliders
Elephant cards are set up on the tables, and John Fredericks, the Trumpy radio host, is about to start broadcasting from his watch party in the heart of Washington, D.C.
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His prediction of Republican holds in the House and the Senate has not wavered all year.
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prediction → set → House
“What you are going to see tonight is a red wave of Republican voters who are rejecting communism,” he tells Secrets on the second floor of the University Club, a glass of red wine in his hand.
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he → go → hand
“They are going to put Republicans over the top,” he added.
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he → go → top
“It doesn’t mean that they like Donald Trump, but the results will shock America.”
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results → mean → America
Time will tell.
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Time → tell → ?
It is only 7 p.m., and the polls have closed in a handful of states so far.
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polls → close → states
The bar is doing a roaring trade.
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bar → do → trade
“Maybe it won’t be as bad as we think,” said a red-suited man as he waited to grab one of the juicy sliders.
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he → think → sliders
Secrets spent Tuesday on a mission to get the most out of the city’s political watch parties.
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Secrets → spend → parties
After the red ties, navy suits and older faces at the University Club, the next stop is signposted by a duck on the sidewalk.
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stop → signpost → sidewalk
Olivia Gray, as she is known, waggles her tail feathers for photographs as Democrats make their way into an upstairs bar at Solly’s just across town.
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Democrats → know → town
This party is hosted by Oye Owolewa, the Democratic nominee for an at-large seat on the D.C. Council, and Olivia.
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party → host → Council
Or rather, Pro-Animal DC, which is pushing ballot initiative 86 to ban foie gras in the district.
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which → push → district
Volunteers are crammed into the sweaty bar as someone on stage offers a rousing liberal chorus:
“Oh yes we can,
“Make the city that we live in,
“A place for everyone,
“Oh yes we can.”
It has just gone 8 p.m., too early for results.
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It → cram → results
“We’re going to have to wait and see,” Paul Strauss, shadow senator for the district, tells Secrets.
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Strauss → go → Secrets
“We’ve got some close races around the country, so I don’t want to take anything for granted.”
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I → get → anything
More people push up the stairs behind us.
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people → push → us
Secrets cannot hang around to hear the eruption for Owolewa when he wins, and for foie gras when it is banned.
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it → hang → gras
Our car takes us south towards Capitol Hill.
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car → take → Hill
People are still in line to vote at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library, visible through its plate-glass facade.
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People → vote → facade
Axios, the news website, has teamed up with prediction market Kalshi for its watch party.
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Axios → team → party
The panel discussions are over by the time Secrets arrives, thankfully.
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Secrets → arrive → time
Guests nibble on cannonball-sized sliders and order old fashioneds at the open bar, while mingling on the terrace.
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Guests → nibble → terrace
It has stunning views of the U.S. Capitol, a reminder of what’s at stake.
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what → have → stake
Not that many are paying attention.
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many → pay → attention
The vest-clad attendees look as if they are more interested in making money on their phones.
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they → clothe → phones
Chuck Todd, the former host of NBC’s Meet the Press, is broadcasting from a cubicle at the back of a bar.
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Todd → broadcast → bar
Prediction market numbers are flashed up on a big screen.
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numbers → flash → screen
Results are still only trickling in, but Kalshi already has Democrats with a 99% chance of taking the Senate.
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Kalshi → trickle → Senate
“I think I’m reading this right,” says a bemused attendee, who came to the party alone and is staring at the Kalshi data, “but I think this says the Democrats will win 55 seats.”
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Democrats → think → seats
Other broadcasters have yet to decide whether this is a bit of a blue wave or a big blue wave — a “bluenami.”
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this → have → wave
As we chat, political commentator Chris Cillizza takes the stage in front of us for an update.
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Cillizza → chat → update
He starts to explain that it is beginning to look like a medium-to-large wave, “with the possibility of it being huge.”
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it → start → possibility
Then, Kalshi asks him to hold its beer.
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Kalshi → ask → beer
Behind Cillizza, the giant screen suddenly flashes with a new race call: it says Annie Andrews will beat Darline Graham in the South Carolina Senate race.
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Andrews → flash → race
There are gasps around the room as the magnitude of this call hits home.
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magnitude → be → home
This is huge,” says Cillizza.
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Cillizza → say → ?
…and 36 more, not listed.
The Aporia
