Commentary
November was an unforeseeable disaster for the Republicans. Almost all those who are downcast now, such as Newt Gingrich, were in the pre-Nov. 8 consensus that expected substantial Republican gains.
Senate leader Mitch McConnell was still speaking of only marginal changes in the Senate, and possibly not even positive ones, but the general expectation was for a clear-cut victory in the House, a close victory in the Senate, and some pleasant outcomes elsewhere.
Many new telegenic and articulate Republican candidates, such as Kari Lake in Arizona, Tudor Dixon in Michigan, Tiffany Smiley in Washington, and Kelly Tshibaka in Alaska, were all touted as exemplars of a re-launched, dynamic Republican drive to poach the Democrats’ advantage with educated suburban women as they had already challenged the Democrats for the Hispanic and African-American votes….