Many posts have discussed the Constitution.
William F. Connelly Jr. at The Richmond Times-Dispatch [links added]
Before the election, President Donald Trump seemed perplexed by his party’s looming loss in the November elections.
“I don’t understand it, nobody does, nobody’s been able to explain it … Whoever wins the presidency, Republican or Democrat, automatically does poorly in the midterms. I don’t know why…”
Maybe ask James Madison, Mr. President?
Madison, the Father of our Constitution, created a virtual constitutional constant: The party in the White House commonly loses seats in midterm elections. While there are rare exceptions to this rule, November 2026 was not one.
Like a pendulum, this constitutional constant applies especially to the second midterm election of a two-term president, often called the Six-Year-Itch. Political scientist Greg Weiner labels it “Madison’s Metronome,” just one of the many checks and balances in Madison’s complex separation of powers system.
Trump might understand if only he would read Federalist #10 and #51, Madison’s two most famous short essays promoting ratification of the Constitution. In Federalist #10 Madison all but predicted Trump: “Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm.” Consequently, in Federalist #51 Madison insisted: “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected to the constitutional rights of the place.”
Madison understood that institutions matter. Institutions affect behavior, promoting institutional patriotism and responsibility by redefining the ambition and self-interest of politicians. Where you sit influences what you think. The competing branches, legislative chambers, and levels of government, naturally defend their institutional prerogatives. In this manner, our Madisonian institutions effectively regulate political behavior. Our constitutional system humbles and empowers Presidents and Congress, Republicans and Democrats, majority and minority parties. Constitutional analysis is critical to comprehending contemporary politics.
Why is Trump stunned when Supreme Court Justices with lifetime tenure dare to disagree with him? Why is he shocked that Congressional Republicans jump ship when their ambition demands it? Why is he surprised that states are pushing back? Frequent elections give voters the opportunity to voice their impatience with Washington.
Trump neither understands nor respects our Constitution and the institutions it creates. In 2022 he insisted we should terminate “all rules, regulations and articles, even those found in the Constitution” to return him to the White House, so he could be “dictator on Day 1.” Yet our Constitution does not look kindly on would-be dictators. Madison understood the danger of a demagogic politician employing the “vicious arts,” fomenting anger among citizens to advance self-serving ambition.
Trump’s first-term Vice President, Mike Pence, concluded, “Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States … President Trump demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution” on Jan. 6. Pence chose the Constitution because he had read it.
Today Trump may wish he was Putin, Xi or Kim Jong Un. But he’s not.
Instead, James Madison rules America, and the Constitution governs.
The Constitution governs in the commonplace sense that ours is a “government of laws not men.” No one person governs. Neither the President nor the Congress alone govern, and certainly neither political party is ever wholly the government. Even majorities do not govern. The separation of powers humbles all three branches, three levels of government, and both political parties. Madison masterfully manages ambition to limit government.
Donald Trump is not the government. But does he know this?
Our republican institutions defined by Madison’s separation of powers, checks and balances, bicameralism and federalism have successfully governed our politics for over two centuries; limiting and empowering, as needed, our three branches and three levels of government, all for the purpose of promoting ordered liberty. The November elections again advanced this purpose.
Meanwhile, Trump’s narcissism led him to compare himself to our greatest president, Abraham Lincoln. Yet the premise for Lincoln’s greatness was his admiration for the Constitution. Lincoln condemned ambitious politicians willing to stoke the “mobocratic spirit,” and “disregard for law.” Instead, Lincoln worked to promote, in his words, “a reverence for the Constitution and laws.” Lincoln grounded his own greatness on his veneration for the Constitution which he understood and perpetuated, thanks to his prudence and moderation.
Madison and Lincoln were great because they served a purpose greater than themselves, namely, founding and perpetuating our constitutional republic. Thanks to Madison and Lincoln, the Constitution governs even Trump.
