After days of panic and hand-wringing over presidential polls that show President Joe Biden possibly narrowly losing to Donald Trump a year from now, last night Democrats were given a reprieve from their doleful mood as the off-year elections delivered victories across the country. With the exception of the Mississippi governorship (which no one seriously thought could be won by a Democrat), they swept all the big bellwether elections, from flipping the Virginia House of Delegates and holding the state Senate (pushing Gov. Glenn Youngkin off the short list of GOP Great Whitebread Hopes), winning the important abortion rights referendum in blood red Ohio and re-electing the Democratic governor of Kentucky. There were dozens of other races including state Supreme Court victories and school board seats that were either held or flipped by the Democrats. It was a good night.
But, as is their wont, the Democrats will no doubt revert to their bleak frame of mind as soon as they see another presidential poll or two that shows the race is close. MSNBC's Chris Hayes described this phenomenon perfectly:
