November 13, 2026
Let’s speak truth, count costs, re-boot, and move forward.
Asking why Democrats trounced Republicans in national, state, and local midterm races is worthwhile, but not if it becomes a vituperative circular firing squad. We must learn from the experience, re-boot, and move on.
The reaction from conservatives was not so much surprise or anger as resignation, a sense that the air was out of the balloon. For his base, Trump was to modern America what King Arthur was to ancient Britain: a unique leader who did things none of his predecessors could. But the Excalibur he drew from Lake America cut both ways. It sliced the umbilical cord from smug, leftist Europeans whose defense we subsidized for 80 years while they built golden social safety nets. But it also smote bewildered Canadians and Danes; with admitted results, yet at a cost.
There was a good strategic argument for striking Iran, but the articulation of the conflict and ensuing economic effects cost Republicans at the polls. Tariffs were an overdue correction to Chinese abuses, but their implementation confused allies and Americans alike. On immigration, Trump scored with voters for his miraculous sealing of the southern border. But deportations were always going to be wicked hard, and the two ICE shootings in Minneapolis, whatever the true facts, were a public relations fiasco that set them back significantly.
In an exit poll, 90% of voters said that “government corruption was a crucial or major factor in their vote.” Perception is as important as reality. Trump’s gatekeepers for patronage positions prize fealty above all. That has allowed some unsuitable people into powerful federal jobs and kept out others who would have served faithfully and capably. Nationally, if Republicans expect to convince blue city Democrats to take massive welfare fraud seriously, they have to keep their own houses clean.
Politics is hard. Leadership requires difficult decisions that don’t always work out. Once the country picks two national candidates, you vote for the best one, support him, and hope. You can’t get off mid-ride.
Here are some mid-term takes from commenters I respect.
Vice President Vance said on X that “the reason we lost is the war.” He said Trump 2024 voters wanted their government to end the war, focus on cost of living, put America First, and change our relationship to Israel. Those are not clear instructions, nor easy to do.
Eli Lake of the Free Press also cites the Iran war as primary culprit in the blue wave; it violated a campaign pledge and had immediate economic costs but long-term benefits.
Here’s the Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh’s midterm take on X. The volume of flak he’s taken from his own side may be proportional to its accuracy.
Megyn Kelly is a conservative but beholden to no party or politician. Her Episode 1434 channels the dismay of independent voters who voted for Trump in 2024.
Andrew McCarthy wrote this trenchant analysis in the National Review, an establishment conservative outlet.
Dave Rubin summed up the Republican midterm platform roughly as: ‘they’re bananas, we’re slightly better, vote for us.’ That wasn’t a winning appeal. Conservatives across the movement need to come up with a message and a plan that resonates with more than a third of the country. We have to give people hope for a better future, even if we ask them to work and sacrifice to get there. We have two years.
