Toxic

Tuesday was an off-year election in the United States. Only a handful of congressional races were contested for unscheduled vacancies.

So almost exclusively state and local races were up for grabs this week. The issues decided had little to nothing to do with Donald Trump.

Nonetheless, Trump's toxicity spread to downballot races in all but the most conservative regions of the country. In state after state, race after race, Democrats soundly defeated Republicans. Trump's name was not on any ballot, but he nonetheless poisoned thousands of candidates.

In certain local elections in some Northeast regions, Democrats had never won a race as far back as the early nineteenth or even the eighteenth century when parties barely existed in the United States. But Tuesday saw a massive rejection of Republicans simply because of their association with the President. In some northeastern counties that had always voted solidly for the GOP, every last Republican on ballots was defeated.

Not surprisingly, media coverage of Trump's humiliating night was extensive. The New York Times (link here) and Politico (link here) both had good wrap-up pieces.

Talking Points Memo had a great line in their thoughtful analysis (link here): "The moral of the story for Republicans is that Trumpism is toxic." And The Daily Beast wrote about how the much-feared Trump whisperer Steven Bannon was brutally humbled (link here): "The moral of the story for Republicans is that Trumpism is toxic."

Clearly, "toxic" was the word most often used to describe the President in article after article.

Now we have to continue this momentum and more into next year's midterm races, when the entire House of Representatives and a third of the Senate are up for re-election. Celebrate Tuesday's victories but get ready to work for more.

Stay tuned.