Most Election Day Fallout—The White House pushed back Wednesday on the conventional assessment that the Democratic wave election in Virginia and elsewhere reflected poorly on Donald Trump: The president’s party always faces “headwinds” in elections in the first year; Virginia was trending Democratic anyway; what’s got Republican voters frustrated is inaction from the GOP Congress.
But the Wall Street Journal editorial page, which has been friendly toward Trump (if cautiously so), called Tuesday’s thumping of the Republican party an “anti-Trump wave.” Here’s an excerpt from their Thursday editorial:
The message for Republicans going into 2018 is that they are in trouble in the swing suburban districts where the House will be won or lost. Republicans hold seats in 23 districts where Mrs. Clinton also won. One is the 10th Congressional District in North Virginia held by the estimable Barbara Comstock that includes much of Loudoun County. Democrats will run as a check on Mr. Trump, and Republicans need a response beyond a Nancy Pelosi fright mask.
Another message is that the GOP success down-ballot during the Obama years can go rapidly in reverse. That’s clear from the GOP rout in the Virginia House of Delegates. But there’s also evidence from Rob Astorino’s defeat as executive of Westchester County in New York, a state Senate seat in Washington that gives Democrats a majority, and a GOP incumbent mayoral loss in Manchester, N.H. American politics is more national than ever, and if Mr. Trump’s approval rating stays at 38% next year, the GOP’s state gains could wash away.
The Journal is holding out hope that tax reform can help salvage the GOP’s prospects for next year’s midterm elections by giving Trump a victory and giving Republican voters something to get excited about. It’s a refrain I heard from Washington Republicans not in the White House starting on Tuesday night as the shock of the election results were coming in. This means they’ve got to get tax reform through.
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05.04.2024