Nobody was seriously betting on the inspirational Beto O’Rourke beating the loathsome, toad-like Ted Cruz, not really. And in the end he didn’t. Too many Texas bumblefucks.

Why did Andrew Gillum, the Democratic rock-star candidate for the Florida governorship, lose to the repulsive Trump ally Ron DeSantis?

Why did Stacey Abrams, the brilliant Democratic gubernatorial candidate from Georgia, lose to her odious, vote-suppressing Republican opponent, Brian Kemp?

Yes, the Dems have won control of the House of Representatives — excellent news, and an overall victory against the Trump corrosion. A lot of diverse new Dems will be heading to Washington. But they’ve lost two seats in the Senate.

Yes, many Dems have triumphed in many tough races all over. But while American voters generally leaned blue in many regions, they didn’t tip blue in a big, decisive way. Too many rural assholes voted in favor of the Asshole-in-Chief.

Dan Lavoie on Twitter: “Tens of millions of Americans looked at what has happened in this country the past two years and said, ‘Yes, more of this, please!'”

Beto ran a world-class campaign, and he could make the difference in 2020. He needs to return to El Paso and flop for a couple of weeks, but starting in early ’19 he needs to take a long hard look at running against President Trump. He could do it — he could win it — he really could. What other prospective Democratic presidential candidate is generating that crackling Beto excitement? Nobody.