Republicans never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. In 2010, they failed to win the Senate when it was theirs for the taking. Now they’ve lost the White House to President Obama, despite his poor record and the likelihood things won’t get any better in his second term. And they failed again to capture the Senate, though a takeover was initially thought to be a cinch.
The result was a status quo election, with Democrats entrenched in White House and Senate and Republicans firmly in control of the House. As it turned out, the election wasn’t historic at all, except that Barack Obama, the first African American president, became the first to be reelected.
The numbers and the faces in Washington have barely changed at all. We’re stuck with them. As hard as Republicans tried, they were unable to upset the balance of political forces.
What’s their problem? In Senate races, it’s bad candidates: old hacks (Wisconsin), young hacks (Florida), youngsters (Ohio), Tea Party types who can’t talk about abortion sensibly (Missouri, Indiana), retreads (Virginia), lousy campaigners (North Dakota) and Washington veterans (Michigan). Losers all.