Ossoff Defeat Means GOP Will Steamroll Its Devastating Legislation Until 2018

A win for Jon Ossoff last night might have made congressional Republicans nervous enough to think twice about the AHCA and massive tax cuts for the rich. And the close result not only in Georgia but also, surprisingly, in South Carolina might still give some pause. But politics is all about winning and Democrats have not done enough of that lately.

In sports like hockey and baseball, you will usually find that successful teams win a large proportion of the one goal or one run games. And the "bad" teams invariably lose almost all the close games. Right now, Democrats look like a bad team. But, to continue the analogy, it's early in the season, we've been playing all our games in the other team's building where they've traditionally had an enormous advantage, and we've been keeping those games close. There still plenty of time and lots of indications we can turn it around in 2018, especially in the House.

As the Cook Political Report points out, Democrats have overperformed their generic numbers in these recent special elections by anywhere from 6% to 12%. That is massive and anything like that in 2018 will probably give us control of the House. There are at least 70 other districts that are more favorable to Democrats in 2018 than the one in Georgia. And Handel in Georgia and Norman in South Carolina will have to defend their votes on healthcare, tax cuts, and other thorny issues come 2018.

Ironically, however, this result probably made Republicans even more determined to repeal Obamacare, no matter what the damage, and move on massive tax cuts as it showed the path to victory for Republicans lies in keeping their base intact rather than changing course. Following through on their devastating promises is the only way for congressional Republicans to keep their base motivated. In addition, moving forward on these issues keeps the far-right "independent" money from the Kochs, the Mercers, the Adelsons, and others all flowing to fight these kind of races for them. As Paul Ryan says, "This is a once in a generation opportunity" and conservative Republicans are determined to exploit it.

For Democrats, now, more than ever, we need the resistance to be even stronger and more vocal. That's hard to do when you're in the middle of a losing streak. But it's one of the only ways we can be winners until 2018 comes along.