Carson Elm-Picard / MS NOW; Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images |
A sense of deja vu is likely washing over Republican lawmakers. Many of the struggles GOP candidates are facing in 2026 eerily mirror their plight in 2018. The conditions this time around, however, are much more dire, emphasizing how few lessons Republicans learned from their last midterm defeat.
In particular, lawmakers have been having a tough time selling the megabill that Trump dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill. The White House briefed House Republicans last year on rebranding the package as the “working families tax cut.” But a new poll from Politico confirmed that while respondents prefer the new name, taxes are near the bottom of voters’ list of top issues.
Which brings us to the biggest differences weighing down the GOP this time around, presaging what could be an even more brutal potential loss. |
