Six Lessons From Georgia's 6th District

Six thoughts about Georgia’s 6th congressional district:

Donald Trump isn’t the drag on Republican candidates Democrats have been expecting him to be. Karen Handler won the special House election by 5 percentage points in this suburban Atlanta district that Trump won last year by only 2 points.

It takes more than fired-up voters and angry protests to win an election. You need a majority of voters. The burst of Democratic activity in the Trump era may be similar to the anti-war furor in the late 1960s and early ‘70s that didn’t lead to electing Democrats.

Money is overrated in politics. Jon Ossoff raised and spent $30 million, give or take a few million, and lost. David Wasserman, the best analyst of House races, said he aired so many TV ads, he may have created “Ossoff fatigue.”

Democrats continue to have a candidate recruitment problem. They lost a winnable special election in Montana and now one in Georgia. Better candidates could have won both races.