What Happened This Week In Washington — And Georgia

I mean … I don’t know, Micah. Usually losing is a bigger motivator than winning in politics. Unlike sports in that way.

Going back to the GOP turnout question: Beyond Trump not being on the ballot, I also wonder about the simple deflating effect of losing. That is, Republicans just lost a presidential race. There’s usually a backlash against the president’s party in the first midterm, but that’s two years later — enough time to get over a loss and motivate yourself again.

To use a sports analogy: I grew up an Eagles fan, and they seemed to lose in the NFC championship game nearly every year. For the next two weeks, I’d tell myself I was done following football, but I would eventually rally behind the team by the start of the next season. We’re still in that two-week, I’m-still-bummed phase, maybe? (If you’re curious, when the Eagles finally won the NFC title and then lost the Super Bowl in 2005 I actually did stop following the NFL for good, soooooo … 🤷 .)