I promised a red wave — Trump blew it

A month ago, I argued in this space that the Republicans would hold both houses of Congress because massive numbers of quiet, pollster-ignoring Republicans would vote in a loud red wave.As Maxwell Smart used to say, “Missed it by that much.” Or Bob Uecker: “Juuuuuust a little bit outside.” DEMOCRATS RAN RADICALS AND STILL WON. DON’T BLAME THE CANDIDATES — TRUMP OWNS THIS BLOODBATHInstead, the mainstream media is enjoying its best day ever, gleefully pawing through the wreckage of the Republican Party and the transformation of President Donald Trump into a lame duck.People are likening him to King Lear or George III, whose reigns ended in madness.Or Joe Biden, whose senescence could not be hidden away from the American people.The more apt comparison: Chance, the Gardener, from the 1979 satire Being There.Peter Sellers played Chance, an illiterate caretaker for a wealthy Washington insider. Through a series of unexpected events, Chance becomes catapulted into the role of a brilliant presidential adviser. He’s talking strictly about gardening, but everybody thinks he’s laying down brilliant metaphors for the economy.He says, “As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.”He adds, “In the garden, growth has its seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again. There will be growth in the spring!”I thought about Chance while watching the president’s closing argument speech this past Monday night. Instead of sticking to Republican talking points about affordability, Iran, and the dangers of socialism, Trump held forth on … gardening.“Like the human being,” he said, “grass has a life also. You have to replace grass. You know that? Grass has a life. We have a life, and grass has a life.“The grass in front of the White House was a very inferior grass for many, many years, and now it’s beautiful.”Both Chance and Trump are obsessed with groundskeeping. And both learn about life mostly from watching television. When they talk about nature, everyone thinks Chance is a genius. Trump? Not so much. For a guy who’s so media-savvy, he’s certainly lost the plot.Take an 80-year-old man notorious for sleeping just three or four hours a night. Give him the toughest, most exhausting job on the planet. Remove any limitations on his power because people in his own party know that to confront him is to end their own careers. And you end up with a president of the United States talking about lawn care when our economic system itself is under siege.The administration will take on water almost immediately. The investigations, the impeachments, the rolling back of its accomplishments … those will be the highlights of the next two years.But maybe Trump was speaking in metaphor, just as everyone thought Chance the Gardener did. Maybe he’s reminding us that politics, such as nature, is cyclical. Or maybe the job has reduced him, as it does to practically every incumbent.Trump’s second term began with energy, verve, and a flood-the-zone mania that had opponents and the media on their heels. He got stuff done. He closed the border. He got criminal illegal immigrants off the streets. He diminished the acceptance of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and antisemitism. He got his tax bill through Congress. He made us energy self-sufficient. He toppled Venezuela and put the Cuban communists into final descent. He supported our ally Israel in its hour of need.Let’s not forget what he accomplished.But now, the weight of the job appears to have caught up with him. The mysterious bruises on his hand. The increasingly obvious inability to stay on message. The vindictiveness. His and Don Jr.’s sudden crypto wealth, and Don Jr.’s nuptials paid for by a very bad guy.Which leads us to Monday’s speech, in which the president channels Chance and talks not about green energy or greenmail but instead about how green his garden grows.Over the next two years, the Democrats will almost certainly overplay their hand, because that’s what Democrats do. They’ll harp on the same radical positions on social issues that brought down Kamala Harris in 2024. Their promotion of socialism may play well in Park Slope, but it won’t last long in the heartland. When Americans learn that Medicare for All means private health insurance for none, the Marco Rubios and Nikki Haleys of the world will suddenly look better than ever.Expect to see the Democrats attacking and impeaching Trump and the secretary of war, introducing bills to increase the size of the Supreme Court, repealing the Electoral College, and dumping the filibuster.Which means that in two short years, the same electorate that repudiated Trump will repudiate the very people they voted to isolate and silence him.AFTER DEFEAT, REPUBLICANS NEED TO RECLAIM THEIR PARTYThere’s still time for a Republican to win the White House in 2028.But only if the president rediscovers his focus … and finds a way to keep off the grass.Michael Levin is a two-time New York Times bestselling author. His next novel, 2028, A Political Thriller, will be published by Morgan James in April.