But the most significant thing about the current cycle of primaries is not how they became a kind of Miss Trump 2018 contest for Republicans, but how in Florida and Arizona Democrats chose to ignore the president and run on questions that actually affect voters’ lives. In both states the most prominent theme in television advertising was health care, a bread-and-butter issue that the president and his party have largely ignored since various bills attempting to repeal or modify the Affordable Care Act failed last year. Mayor Andrew Gillum of Tallahassee, who had polled near the 16 percent mark before Tuesday, beat his Clintonite rival in the governor’s race after promising to support single-payer health care and a $15 minimum wage. Gillum, the first African-American candidate to win a party gubernatorial contest in Florida, began his campaign with calls for Trump’s impeachment but seems to have pivoted away from criticism of the president in favor of focusing on his own policy agenda.

What this suggests, whether they care to admit it or not, is that Democrats recognize it is impossible to win a statewide election in many parts of the country without securing the votes of at least some of the president’s supporters. Just as Barack Obama continued to enjoy the almost universal support of his base even as dissatisfaction with aspects of his would-be signature domestic legislation mounted, it is possible to imagine that voters might be personally fond of, or at least not absolutely disgusted with, Trump even as they question whether he is improving their well-being and those of their families.