The Republicans are looking to pick up six or more seats in the Senate tonight. Mitch McConnell looks to be winning in Kentucky, and he’ll probably replace Harry Reid as majority leader.
Tomorrow morning, the Republicans are going to be basking in optimism and satisfaction. That would be a tremendous mistake. They need to have viable plans in place right now, or they’ll be back in the wilderness in two years.
Pundits are calling this election a referendum on the President and his policies. That’s not the case. If anything, that would have been the 2010 election. The “take back our country” rhetoric and tricorner hats won Republicans a few seats, but the Tea Party forked the message and turned their narrow majority into a tool for little more than squabbling obstructionism. They seemed to think the public didn’t notice.
Next came claims they’d take the White House in 2012. That didn’t happen. Continued...