Charles C. W.  Cooke/National Review

This Was a Rout

The spin will now begin in earnest, but the bottom line is this: Last night was a rout for the Democratic Party and its friends. They were swept in Virginia; they suffered a 16-point swing in New Jersey — coming within a few thousands votes of losing a gubernatorial race that nobody (bar our own Dan McLaughlin) was talking about, while taking some notable losses in the assembly; they lost every single judicial race in Pennsylvania — including a seat on the state’s Supreme Court; they did worse than expected on the city council in New York; they even lost a race for city attorney in Seattle. Meanwhile, in Buffalo, N.Y., the socialist was defeated by a write-in candidate, and, in Minneapolis, a ballot measure to abolish the police was roundly rejected. If this sentiment were to hold, next year’s midterms will be utterly catastrophic for the party and its cause.