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... Inside the White House, there are two main takeaways from Tuesday's miserable performance for the Republican Party.

The first one " that fielding quality candidates matters -- is the one GOP officials are eagerly messaging.

But the second, perhaps more existential issue, is that President Donald Trump isn't focused enough on the issues that matter most to the voters the party needs.

"People don't think he's lived up to his promises," said one White House ally, who like others in this story was granted anonymity to discuss internal thinking. "You won on lowering costs, putting more money back into people's pockets. And people don't feel that right now." ...