The Washington Free Beacon's Matthew Continetti writes the best analysis I've seen so far of how the GOP blew the advantage of a favorable set of circumstances. How they barely managed to eke out a tiny win, if that is what it turns out to be. Some key quotes:
Donald Trump was an unpopular president who polarized the national electorate. Joe Biden is an unpopular president who makes the electorate yawn. Four years ago, the electorate was obsessed with Trump. In 2022 the electorate is thinking about other things.
The Republicans should have done much better on inflation and the economy. They lacked an effective and transparent message on how they planned to fix things.
Since 2016 the GOP has been estranged from the middle of the country. I don’t mean the Midwest—I’m talking about independents, moderates, and suburban voters.
This year, independents went for Democrats narrowly. Moderates broke for Democrats by 15 points. And the suburbs narrowly went for Republicans in the national exit poll, while narrowly going for Democrats in the Fox voter analysis. Our national stalemate continued.
The national GOP needs to recognize Biden’s irrelevance, settle on an economic message and agenda that wins public support, take lessons in how to talk about the right to life, and reconnect with independents, suburban voters, and moderates. Maybe the governor of Florida, who just won reelection by 20 points without Trump’s "help," can teach them how to do it.
You might want to read his whole column - there's no paywall. Hat tip to Dashiell Hammett for my title.
