ESSWATCH

One of the things the data analysts on our side obsessed over was "composition"—whether the electorate looked close enough to 2024 for Republicans to win. And despite polls that showed a Democrat blowout, the data kept on telling us the same story: in some states turnout was merely OK, in other states it was downright amazing, and in no state was it catastrophic. There was a genuine sense of optimism on our team: our people were showing up. So, I asked the smartest data guy I know, does that mean we're going to shock the world? "No," he told me. "We might do better than the polls suggest. But the data is telling us that a lot of Trump/Vance 2024 voters are pissed and planning to vote for the other guys. Our voters are turning out, but they may not vote for us." Well, that looks prophetic now. Our voters did show up. In Florida, for example, the electorate was 9 points more Republican than Democrat, just a couple points worse than 2024. Undoubtedly there were places we could have done better on turnout. But the main problem is not turnout. The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026. There will be a lot of infighting and arguing over what happened and why that is. One of the pollsters I really respect told me that our economic messaging wasn’t sharp enough down the stretch. I’m sure that’s true. But the real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone. Another pollster—one of the smartest people I know in politics, told me yesterday we’d lose the generic ballot by 13 points. I felt negative going into Tuesday, but even I was shocked by this. In his polling, he saw that a lot of Trump 2024 voters were angry and planning to vote for Democrats. He asked those voters who had abandoned us what would cause them to come back on our team. The top four answers, accounting for nearly all of the responses were: 1) End the war 2) Focus on cost of living/inflation 3) Put America First 4) Change our relationship to Israel Our voters showed up. And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats. This is according to a pollster who nailed the results. While many spent Monday attacking Rachel Campos Duffy for calling for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, it turns out her political advice was sound. (She’s also a great person.) In the next few months, there's going to be a lot of gaslighting. Expect to hear any number of establishment politicians say the solution to our woes is amnesty. I'm open to the idea that we should change enforcement—by focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labor, for instance. But anyone pushing amnesty is lying to you. The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night. If you'd like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that's at least honest. But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there. I remain hopeful about our country. To the people who are pissed off and want to say, “I told you so”: you’re right, you did tell us so. Take that energy into electing Republicans who share your worldview. To the people who are just pissed at the results, you should be. Let’s take that anger and get back to the work of saving our country.

He died for nothing

Hila Klein has filed for divorce from Ethan Klein after exposing his affair publicly She has hired celebrity lawyer Laura Wasser, who dealt with Kim Kardashian's split from Kanye West

🚨🇬🇧 NEW: Abdul El-Sayed clashes with Sky News as the first polls close in the US midterms "Like five people watch Sky News in the US"

Texas, today is the day. James Talarico seems like a nice young man and a moderate. That's the act. This is a man who said "God is nonbinary." Who said there are six biological sexes. Who called capitalism an oppressive system he wants to dismantle. And who says we should look to Western Europe for inspiration. Take a look at Paris. His record is just as radical. He voted NO on border security, NO on cutting your property taxes, and NO on stopping cities from defunding the police. Lie to the voters, then get in power. Don't let it work. Get out and vote for @KenPaxtonTX.

I hate to say it, but America is over. The communists and jihadists are going to open our borders and replace our votes with votes from illegals aliens. We now have reps who openly speak about their hatred of America, their love of communism and their support for sharia law. We won’t be able to undo the damage they cause on our country come 2028. America 250 was a funeral. The American Dream is dead.

BREAKING: Democrats won control of both the U.S. House and Senate.

Elon Musk now lives in a blue state after moving from California to Texas to live in a red state. He spent $224 million to keep Texas red, and failed.

🚨 BREAKING: Trump’s closing message on election day: “I'm at 99% approval rating in Israel. If people get tired of me in the US, I'll move to Israel and become Prime Minister.”