By the time Texas was close to being called for James Talarico, the texts were coming in fast and very furious. Closely mirroring the attitude of the voters, Republican operatives saw a group of out-of-touch party elites getting rich while the rest of them staggered under catastrophic losses. “Susie Wiles, James Blair, and Chris LaCivita have proven themselves to be historic: losing South Carolina, Texas, and Kansas,” one GOP strategist said, naming three of the key members in President Donald Trump’s inner circle. “Trump has truly hired the dumbest people.”

Republican staffers are mortified by a president they readily admit couldn’t have been more distant from voters’ concerns, which revolved around high prices stoked by an unnecessary war in Iran. Another Republican operative, who had been conducting polling in just about every competitive House district, laid the blame at the feet of NRSC director Richard Hudson, who lost his North........

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