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[Hortensis]

18. Our stunning losses in 2016 were a huge warning

that that is not necessarily so. What is true is that a good majority of Americans were and are solidly or leaning our way ideologically, even if some are not always voting that way.

But remember, all polls showed us winning by double digits for most of 2016, senate secure, major house gains for sure and control unbelievably suddenly in play, state legislatures, governorships, hundreds of judicial appointments. (Which the right is filling with hard-core conservatives, mostly social and religious conservatives.)

On November 9 we wondered how the polls could have been so unbelievably wrong. Now we know they weren't but that the right succeeded in taking power anyway and that they're planning on a repeat on November 6, 2018.

Scary as hell, polls are now revealing that conservatives, social/religious ones especially, after decades of losses at the polls are realizing that overthrowing democracy and replacing it with authoritarian leadership that imposes their "values" may be desirable and doable. They're fine with Trump, though most'd prefer him to be more competent as he restructures our nation.

We now know those white male Democratic workers we supposedly weren't "talking to" chose Trump out of misogyny and racism, angered by too much equality--socially at least leaning conservative males. We also now know that a fair number of those who answered Sanders' populist call are similarly social conservatives who happen to also like government programs. So the threat isn't only from those who identified Republican in the past.

Sure, if the midterms aren't sufficiently interfered with, the most common forecast is that that blue wave will probably be big enough to overcome our electoral college and other structural disadvantages and that we should win at least a slight majority in the house, but stay about the same in the senate so that Republicans continue to control court appointments.

More positive forecasts MUST turn out to be right, we must have at least solid control of the house, or else things are going to continue to go very bad and probably just as fast and dramatically as they already have.

I was never naive enough to imagine it couldn't happen here, just thought our strength meant it wouldn't. Two years ago I said what you do. Now I'm scared.