Doug Sosnik and Sara Fagen write:

We are two former White House political directors—one of us, Doug Sosnik, worked for Bill Clinton; one of us, Sara Fagen, worked for George W. Bush. We’ve come together to give our assessment of the 2018 midterms—no partisan spin, just the facts.

The following PowerPoint slides outline what we think about the results and what to expect in President Donald Trump’s Washington for the next two years.

Here’s what we’ve learned so far: A person’s age, race, gender and education are now the best predictors of not only his or her political views, but also where they live. These were the forces that enabled what otherwise might seem a puzzling split verdict—the Democrats took back the House of Representatives and the Republicans expanded their majority in the Senate.

Midterms are a unique animal. These results should not be viewed as a predictor of the outcome for the upcoming presidential election, which will feature a different and much larger electorate and will play out across different geographical terrain. But they do show that the 2020 campaign will take place against a backdrop of deepening partisan divisions in our country, and is likely to inflame them further still—something that should concern us all. [Continue reading…]