So the question: Can a party that came so close to winning everything last November be dead in February? Most Republicans don’t think so. McCarthy, for example, is at this very moment working on an effort to win the House majority in 2022; he might make it. A GOP effort to win the Senate is underway. And a Republican 2024 field is out there — unspoken, at this early moment, but making plans to run in the next presidential race.

It seems the GOP-is-dead talk is coming mostly from groupthink journalists and Democrats who, eager for partisan advantage, are trying to make one Republican extremist — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — the face of the Republican Party. “Democrats look to make Marjorie Taylor Greene the face of GOP,” reported The Hill last week. Indeed they are. And they are making some progress, with a big boost from some media organizations.

It’s a common tactic. Republicans have tried to tie all sorts of Democratic leaders to a few Democratic extremists — say Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez or Rep. Ilhan Omar. But don’t confuse the chatter for the facts. Republicans nearly won last November. That was followed by some terrible months, with Trump’s refusal to accept the election results, the January 6 Capitol riot, and now, the Trump impeachment trial. The GOP took a serious hit. But the current problems will pass, and the Republican Party can emerge stronger in the future.