Republican wins special election in Kansas

Erick Erickson:
There are two key take aways from the special election in Kansas last night. First, the media will go to great lengths to spin a Republican victory as a defeat for Donald Trump. Second, the Republican establishment will go to great lengths to blame conservatives for all the GOP’s perceived problems.

The media really built up the special election in Kansas to be a blow out. Democrats were going to swamp this R+25 seat, proving just what a destructive force Donald Trump is to the GOP. Before the polls even closed, Republicans in Washington were blaming conservatives for the loss, then the narrowness of the victory, because conservatives rejected a Republican health care plan that would have preserved Obamacare.

Republican pundits circulated social media blaming the House Freedom Caucus for rejecting their Swampcare plan that protected Obamacare. If only the conservatives had voted for it, the GOP would have won the seat in Kansas.

Then the GOP won the seat. Well, if only the conservatives hadn’t opposed the plan, it would not have been close muttered Republican pundits.

Meanwhile, the press wants everyone to know that a Republican winning this Republican seat is a shock and a rebuke to Donald Trump. But special elections rarely have anything to do with forecasting the off year election. Remember, right after Barack Obama won in 2008, there were a number of special elections that Democrats won and Democrats took that to mean they would have an easy time in 2010.
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There is more.

The Republicans won a Republican seat despite massive Democrat "resistance" and Trump hatred.  There are limits to Democrats' emotional response to losing an election.

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