The quick analysis from Republican losses in New Jersey and Virginia this past week is that Donald Trump is unpopular and the voters are expressing their displeasure at the ballot box. It's certainly not the first time that has happened. The president's party usually loses seats in off-year elections because voters are unhappy about one thing or another.
But it doesn't have to be that way. Much of Washington seems to think the president's unusually low approval ratings make a Republican wipeout inevitable in 2018. They're bracing for the loss of the House and the Senate - and maybe both - and of many of the GOP's gigantic majority in governorships and state legislatures across the country.