A week and a half after the wipe out of Republicans in suburban districts across America, the experts are telling us what it all means. Obviously, every district is different, as is every candidate and campaign. But the conventional wisdom is calcifying around the theory that RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) are the reason why the GOP lost in so many races.
From Henry Olsen at American Greatness:
The biggest reason Martha McSally lost is the same reason Republicans lost control of the House: RINOs. Across the nation, moderate college-educated independents who had frequently backed Republicans in prior elections switched sides. We can see this trend both in the Arizona exit polls and the results reported to date.
Support for Republicans has collapsed since 2012 among college-educated Arizonans when Mitt Romney cruised to a 54-44 win over Barack Obama, crushing him by a 63-36 percent margin among college graduates.
From the liberal Vox.com:
Never-Trumper and Trump-skeptical voters defied conventional wisdom last week: They mattered. Their numbers were small, but in tight races, suburbanite registered Republicans voted for Democrats over Republicans, helping to send them to Congress.
The premise here is that President Trump is not building a movement.
Pete's Prep Sheet: Friday, Nov. 16, 2018
- The Congressman in charge of the House Intelligence Committee will be meeting behind closed door with top political donors. Outrage ensues! Actually, it doesn't. Because it's Democrat Adam Schiff and these are leftwing donors.
- From Judicial Watch: "U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ruled that within 30 days Hillary Clinton must answer under oath two additional questions about her controversial email system."
- Colonizing the oceans! It's called "seasteading." I've never heard of it. You probably haven't either. But upon examination, it might not seem like such a crazy idea - that "floating nations will restore the environment, enrich the poor, cure the sick, and liberate humanity from politicians."
- Our friend Caleb Howe writes at Mediate how CNN barely covered the arrest of lawyer Michael Avenatti, despite the fact that CNN had the lawyer on its network more than 100 times.