Further affirmation that Trumpism is turning the Republican Party into a sinking electoral Titanic comes from Congress, where a growing list of mainstream conservatives are retiring. New Jersey Rep. Frank LoBiondo announced his departure Tuesday, saying "those of us who came to Congress to change Washington for the better through good governance are now outliers."
For Democrats, whose party is as internally divided as the Republicans, Tuesday's results were the first good political news in a year (apart from the deepening Trump campaign-Russian collusion quagmire). However, Democrats, who were quick to send out fundraising missives on Tuesday once the size of the day's blue wave became evident, need to get their party's act together. At least on a national level, the Democratic National Committee has done little to encourage the party's large Berniecrat wing, which elected 46 percent of the delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
But before cynicism takes hold, ponder the big takeaways from 2017's general election. It was a night of unexpectedly good results for anti-Trump voters. The Republican Party, whether Breitbart or Fox News says it or not, is heading into a panicky downward spiral. And most important of all, large numbers of voters in a non-presidential year want to be heard and are turning out.
That wasn't supposed to happen in Virginia -- not under the GOP's watch. Virginia is one of the most heavily gerrymandered states in the country. In 2011, the Republicans, who then controlled their legislature, drew state and U.S. House election districts to create red supermajorities. That step, coupled with passing more restrictive voter ID requirements to get a ballot, gave most GOP candidates a roughly 10 point starting line advantage over Democrats (outside of seats they were going to win). On Tuesday night, statewide voter turnout was up 16 percent, compared to 2013. That's an incredible turnout and one not predicted by pollsters.
Look at the result. In Virginia, the GOP went into Election Day with a 17-seat majority in its lower legislative chamber. Democrats took back 15 of those seats, electing many women. Another five seats were too close to call as of Wednesday, suggesting that no matter who is declared the winner, recounts will ensue. Fortunately, Virginia votes on paper ballots or computers with printouts, meaning there is a record that can be examined. Nobody expected a Democratic turnaround of that magnitude before Tuesday.
Election Day 2017 showed that voters have something to say and want to express it. In the meantime, it doesn't appear that Republicans are capable of changing course away from Trump and Trumpism between now and 2018. Those who want to turn away, as Cillizza said, will be facing "a frothing cauldron of panic."
Whether Democrats seize that opportunity is an open question. But no matter what the opposition party does, big numbers of Americans surely will be watching and voting in 2018.
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