The one I worry about most is voter anger – which both parties are not taking seriously enough

That chill in the air you are feeling is not the weather, it is the Republicans freaking out about the 2026 midterm elections. Midterms are always referendums on the incumbent, though the party in power usually would rather they weren’t.

This midterm feels less like a referendum on Trumpism than a dirge. It’s easy to see how Republicans got here, lulled into thinking that their guy, Donald Trump, could once again defy political gravity. Trump certainly thought he could.

Molly Jong-Fast is the host of the Fast Politics pod, contributing writer for the times and an analyst for MS Now