Trump’s politics meet reality

David’s perspective on Tuesday night, after celebrating the victory of Senator-Elect Annie Andrews, brought back memories of an earlier race. Jaime Harrison, the former Democratic Party Chairman, recounted his conversation with Sen. Lindsey Graham's brother. Harrison, who once led the party's charge against Graham in 2020, was outmatched by a margin of ten points.

Now, with Trump back in the political arena, stronger than ever, Harrison watched Graham’s sister fail to secure the Senate seat that had remained in Republican hands since Strom Thurmond left the Democratic Party.

For decades, Democrats perceived Trump as the wild card, the one who could win elections using unconventional tactics. The president had convinced them that the pre-2016 political rules no longer applied to him; he could reach his supporters no matter where they were. When he declared himself "on the ballot," they hoped to catch a glimpse of him there.

On Tuesday, the reality set in that Trump's roughhouse politics did not yield results without a perception of a strong economy and a peaceful world. Despite nationalizing the election, holding rallies, and rallying his party in Dallas, Trump's coalition had changed. In his first term, his rejection of the old Republican Party and its big donors had shown them a new electorate - tough on immigration, ready to use tariffs to boost American jobs, and socially conservative like the median voter.

By the second term, Trump seemed to have struck a balance between his new coalition and the donors. His base could be mobilized with money from those who might not fully comprehend the base they were supporting.

However, Trump's era did not last long. He once dazzled with victories like ending the old asylum system and progressive tax cuts, ideas Democrats were hesitant to stand against. Yet, that Trump was gone. He had built a nationalist project that his opponents feared, until the early votes in the Indianapolis suburbs revealed the truth.

The Democrats had bet on the universal truth of gravity and hoped Trump would not defy it. Their own angst proved helpful, as they ran candidates who distanced themselves from "woke" left-wing ideas, fully aware of how Trump could exploit them and how his aggressive GOP would amplify whatever he said. Their strategy resonated more with voters than those who write about politics.

With the votes almost in, the attempts to replicate Trump's success in good times appeared weak. Republicans who believed they could inherit Trump's coalition simply replicated his tactics, like Vivek Ramaswamy and Ken Paxton. They targeted their opponents' personal weaknesses and playfully mocked them. Both failed. Vice President JD Vance's attempts mirrored those of his predecessors, but with no success.

In Texas, he mocked his opponent's "browser history," while in Ohio, he proposed meeting a woman at a bar – an approach that backfired.

As Republicans look toward 2024 and beyond, they find themselves in a post-Trump GOP, with many wondering if there's a way to avoid having Vance lead the party. Democrats, meanwhile, have not found the message or candidate to win a new governing coalition. However, Republicans, who built their identity around Trump's magic with working-class voters, were proven wrong.

In the Washington Sun, Elena Schneider, Alex Roarty, and Reese Gorman highlighted the Republicans' fatal error at the beginning of the cycle: tying everything to Trump.