"We can't know what's going to happen on Election Day in two weeks, let alone over the next two years. Democrats did well in 2018, but that didn't amount to the decisive repudiation of Trump many of us then hoped. History doesn't move in straight or smooth lines.

Nor does it repeat itself. I'm not even sure it rhymes. The future is undetermined.

But while midterms may not be the moment recognized by history, they can matter historically. They can signal the waning of an old era. And they can be a preamble, a prelude, to a new one. This year may be no exception.

Assuming the electoral repudiation of Trump's Republican party is as decisive as now looks likely, Trump's standing in the nation and his party will be weakened.

He'll still be president and can do a lot of damage to the country and the world in his last two years. And he'll still mostly control the Republican party. But it's hard to see him having the kind of dominance going forward he's had for the past decade.

This doesn't mean we'll see a responsible or even defensible Republican party any time soon. But it means turmoil ahead in the GOP."

;;

Et tu, Bloody Bill?