Smart strategists for House Democrats have long acknowledged winning the majority in a six-year-itch midterm would be difficult, but the silver lining has always been the effort to keep the margin as close as possible in the belief that a presidential-level turnout — with the possibility of another history-making nominee for Democrats — could provide the tail wind needed to seize the majority in 2016.

A month before the 2014 elections, Pelosi admitted that was the plan: “This fall [it] is important for us to come as close to [218 seats] as possible.” Why is that? “Their days are numbered. I know that in two years there will be a Democratic Congress and a Democratic president. I’d like it to be in two months,” Pelosi said.