A standard Establishment press take on the midterms

Some scripts are so deeply imbedded in the consciousness of the American puditocracy that they will go to remarkable links to interpret changing realities consistently with them, even when it produces absurdities.

Two of the most important one: American is a center-right country, and Both Sides Do It.

So, for instance, Bill Scher thinks that in confronting a radical-right, authoritarian Republican Party, the Democrats should concentrate on showing good manners and trying to sound as conservative as possible in The Midterms Message for Democrats in 2020: Go Midwestern Nice Politico Magazine 11/07/2018. "[T]he midterms strongly suggest Democrats should find a nominee who can serve America a steaming pot of Midwestern Nice," he writes.

It didn't work that way for Claire McCascall, who defended her Senate seat with a Republican Lite campaign: Steve Kraske, With McCaskill defeat, Missouri Democrats have hit rock-bottom. Now what? Kansas City Star 11/08/2018. I believe Missouri is still considered a Midwestern "purple" state, at least up until this election. Kraske writes:

But look at Missouri Democrats today. They soon will hold neither U.S. Senate seat. Six of the state’s eight U.S. House seats are in GOP hands. Republicans retained their supermajorities in the General Assembly. And they’ve got all the statewide offices, save one.

Missouri Democrats are at their nadir. ...

“This is the most challenging moment Missouri Democrats have ever faced,” former state party chairman Roy Temple said.

In the same election, the state approved ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage and impose tighter ethics restriction on the state legislature. So the Missouri electorate is scarcely immune to liberal politics. (Rick Montgomery, Missouri voters pass higher minimum wage, ethics reforms. But not gas tax Kansas City Star 11/07/2018) And the voters also approved medical marijuana by over 65%. (Missouri Election Results New York Times 11/09/2018)

I'm not suggesting we should just ignore takes like Bill Sher's. Of course, every election and every state has its particular issues and sets of players. The problem is that conventional pundit wisdom always comes to that conclusion.

And, of course, corporate Democrats like Cary Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand will be eagerly promoting just the position Sher takes that progressive candidates are losers.

I'll mention again Ryan Grim's recent article, Life After Trump: How Donald Trump Saved the Democratic Party From Itself The Intercept 11/06/2018, which provides a useful reality check on this stock pundit position.