Reading the midterm tea leaves: potential for a ‘blue wave’

Democrats who were looking to last Tuesday's mixed bag of special and primary elections for firm confirmation of their much-sought "blue wave" of public Donald Trump rejection had to settle for an interim “maybe.”

Perhaps the best they had to show for it was a very near miss in a congressional district in Ohio that Mr. Trump had won by 11 points in 2016. The Republican who supported him was narrowly ahead and declared victory, although the race ended too close to call.

The expected big Democratic turnout did materialize, but maybe not to the degree or result the party hoped for, to signal the beginning of the end of the Trump era. If the Democrats learned anything from the day's voting, it was that they may need to offer more varied political fare than their volley of anti-Trump sentiment to carry the day on next Nov. 6.

At the same time, Republican congressional candidates still need to decide whether their own political survival rests with continuing to embrace a president who seems bent on shattering norms of behavior and morality. Or do they finally need to defend old party values and objectives, before the Republican Party of their forebears is a thing of the past.

The major significance in the midterm elections three months from now lies in the question of whether Democrats can seize control of the House of Representatives.