The political strategists I have known in my career are among the smartest, most interesting, most knowledgeable, and most impressive people I have ever met.
asserted
I → know → people
They are also capable of more white-hot animus for other people than anyone I have ever met.
asserted
I → meet → anyone
And I am not talking about Democrats hating Republicans, or vice versa.
asserted
Democrats → talk → Republicans
Sometimes they even share a corporate client.
asserted
they → share → client
The disgust to which I refer is intraparty.
asserted
I → refer → which
That is when the hatred becomes unmatched by all other human relationships.
asserted
hatred → become → relationships
More than Glinda felt pure, unadulterated loathing for Elphaba at the beginning of "Wicked."
asserted
More → feel → Wicked
More than a tenant despises her cruel and unusual landlord.
asserted
More → despise → landlord
More than the Red Sox detest the Yankees.
asserted
More → detest → Yankees
These folks are experts at circular firing squads and shooting off bazookas inside the tent.
asserted
folks → shoot → tent
Most political strategists detest two things: losing campaigns and losing money.
asserted
strategists → detest → money
The pair is connected.
asserted
pair → connect → ?
An election defeat can cost you your next client.
asserted
defeat → cost → client
Being blamed for an election defeat can cost you several.
asserted
blamed → blame → several
There is, therefore, a substantial professional incentive to establish that the catastrophe was foreseeable, preventable, and definitely somebody else’s doing.
asserted
somebody → be → ?
With a few weeks to go before Election Day, Democratic strategists are feeling good or great, while Republicans range from uneasy and determined to absolutely horrible.
asserted
Republicans → go → Day
The latter have begun rehearsing their recriminations with select audiences.
asserted
latter → begin → audiences
Most political strategists detest two things: losing campaigns and losing money.
asserted
strategists → detest → money
The pair is connected.
asserted
pair → connect → ?
An election defeat can cost you your next client.
asserted
defeat → cost → client
Being blamed for an election defeat can cost you several.
asserted
blamed → blame → several
The Democrats will not need a lengthy warm-up period if the election disappoints.
asserted
election → need → period
There are two parallel campaigns underway: the one to win the election and the one to win the argument about why it was lost.
asserted
it → be → argument
On the Republican side, the simplest argument is also the hardest to refute.
asserted
argument → refute → side
One man controls the party, and his name is Trump.
asserted
name → control → party
His advisers can recommend a message, a schedule, a spending plan, or a period of blessed silence.
asserted
advisers → recommend → silence
They cannot guarantee delivery.
asserted
They → guarantee → delivery
A Republican wipeout would thus produce a comprehensive Trump indictment: his unpopularity, his indiscipline, his economic decisions, his foreign entanglements, his family’s enrichment, and his apparently inexhaustible interest in attaching his name to things.
asserted
wipeout → produce → things
Trump’s cheerleading for AI and data centers is hurting Republicans, too, alienating voters who see higher electric bills and threats to their jobs where he sees a glorious future.
asserted
he → hurt → future
The defense of the staff will be that they could not control him.
uncertain
they → control → him
The prosecution’s response will be that taking responsibility for the consequences of not managing him properly was rather prominently included in the job description.
asserted
taking → take → description
Democrats were divided, the Senate map was favorable, the novel mid-decade redistricting plan seemed to be working, and Republicans could hope voters would tolerate an economic mixed bag if the promised benefits began arriving.
uncertain
benefits → divide → bag
Instead, a voter worried about groceries sees a president worried about building names.
asserted
voter → worry → names
A family falling behind on retirement savings hears about a ballroom.
asserted
family → fall → ballroom
A young adult unable to afford a house watches the president’s family make deals.
asserted
family → afford → deals
Each story supplies the caption for the next one.
asserted
story → supply → one
The political damage requires voters to conclude that the president is spending more time on his surroundings than on theirs.
"Why is he focused on a Washington arts building instead of my wallet?" is a question no Republican media buyer can answer with another video invoking Zohran Mamdani or AOC.
asserted
buyer → require → Mamdani
The Iran conflict compounds the problem: higher energy costs, another foreign war that seems to be taking forever, and a president who campaigned on avoiding precisely that sort of entanglement.
asserted
who → compound → entanglement
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune will face a related accusation: that congressional Republicans produced too little voters could feel, understand, or remember.
uncertain
voters → face → accusation
A legislative accomplishment that requires a staff briefing to appreciate is difficult to sell in a 30-second spot.
asserted
that → require → spot
…and 27 more, not listed.
The Aporia
