But brake-pedal equilibrium is just the beginning of the Democrats’ challenges. There is also the circular firing squad formed by congressional Democrats, which both depressed the Democratic base and alienated the suburban swing voters on whom their majority rested.

Every day, those progressive Democrats bemoaned a cherished priority that was being cut from Biden’s infrastructure bill — laments that depressed core Democrats. Not to be outdone, moderate Democrats focused on the trillion-dollar-plus price tag, which told suburban voters that they needed to hit the brakes on spending.

The final factor that swung the commonwealth was a GOP nominee who was savvy (or, some might say, cynical) enough to embrace much of former president Donald Trump’s agenda to rally the MAGA crowd, but was different enough stylistically to reassure suburbanites.

Democrats often win by focusing on kitchen-table economic issues. Republicans, on the other hand, win when middle-class voters are more concerned about cultural issues. Since the Democrats were not able to deliver on kitchen-table economics, the GOP was able to drive a wedge into the Democratic coalition with cultural issues.