Years ago, James Carville and Paul Begala wrote a book on how to get elected to office. One of the points they made was one everyone needs to remember: Do nothing and take no position to secure yourself a primary win that then costs you the general election. Your goal is to win the general election and not just the primary. Voters, too, need to remember not to nominate people in the primary who will lose the general election.

Mastriano, Lake, and Masters all blew winnable races. Lake still contends her race was stolen from her. Masters and Mastriano are not so vocal about nonsense. But they lost winnable races, and they were not narrow losses where you can see taking a chance on them again.

Pennsylvania and Arizona Republicans will have to decide if they want to cost the Republicans the Senate and engage in political suicide.

[Years ago, the rule was that an embarrassing loss meant the end of an electoral career. George McGovern ran for and won another term in the Senate after his 1972 debacle, but that’s it — and Watergate deflected from McGovern’s flop somewhat in 1974, too. Walter Mondale chose a dignified retirement after losing in a landslide to Ronald Reagan in 1984, but did allow himself to get drafted into an ill-advised run to replace Paul Wellstone after his tragic and untimely death. It’s too bad that politicians these days don’t want to take accountability for their failures. — Ed]