Jonathan Chait: “Whatever misgivings some Republicans may have about Trump’s character or his policies, many subscribe to the theory that, if nothing else, the man knows how to win. And his aura of mastery has extended beyond his followers to the Americans who most detest him. The disgust with which many liberals regard Trump is mixed with fear and envy. His powers of persuasion are a source of endless fascination. They have launched a thousand diner safaris to explore his mystical hold on Real America, and inspired innumerable Democratic activists and intellectuals to ponder how they could create a Trump of their own.”“But Trump is not a winner. He is, for the most part, a loser. In 2016, he lost the national popular vote—that is, the measure of which candidate Americans wanted to win the election—by two percentage points. His party lost control of the House in the 2018 midterms. Trump lost reelection in 2020. His sole unambiguous victory came in 2024, when he faced the clumsy fill-in candidate for an unpopular administration, against which he prevailed, almost by default.”“And now he has lost again.”