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Talk to just about any Democratic strategist these days and you’ll get more than a little happy talk. Sure, they view the first year of Donald Trump’s second term as an unmitigated disaster, but on the bright side, his standing with voters is lower than ever. Even his Republican base is exhausted by his chaos-laden lurch from grievance to gulag and back.

Talk to Republicans and they can hardly argue with those facts. Even in getting their way during this fall’s history-making government shutdown, the GOP still bore more of the blame in voters’ eyes. Republicans know they’re in a rut and there’s no point denying it.

That’s why today’s special election in d

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