This decade has been missing its big-impact midterm

Every other decade over the past hundred years has produced at least one midterm that made a big difference in Congress and in national politics more broadly.

<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1024x682+0+0/resize/1024x682!/quality/85/format/webp/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb5%2F1a%2F2d05c4ac4f62901f6a888b8b18e2%2Fgettyimages-1076708612.jpg' alt='New speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., holds the gavel during the opening session of the 116th Congress at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 3, 2019.'/><p>Every other decade over the past hundred years has produced at least one midterm that made a big difference in Congress and in national politics more broadly.</p><p>(Image credit: Saul Loeb)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-6014811' />