The obvious big winner for the Republicans in last Tuesday's midterm election is Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis.  Not only did he hold on to his current job, but the overwhelming margin of his victory and the effectiveness of his statewide coattails have led him to eclipse Donald Trump as the party's true figurehead.  I actually suspect that this was the plan all along — that Mr. Trump is really in no way eager to remain the media's punching bag.  Now that DeSantis has proven his popularity, the transition to a more politically adept and comparable problem-solver will continue.

The big loser for the GOP is, perhaps surprisingly, Mitch McConnell.  His swamp rat favoritism in doling out campaign funds was not sufficiently concealed.  Should the Republicans lock up that 51st vote in the Senate, then ol' Mitch's position becomes still more precarious, as his rivals will become even more energized.

The biggest winner for the Dems is Pennsylvania's John Fetterman.  For a person who's not even capable of collecting shopping carts in a supermarket parking lot, landing a seat in the best job in politics is quite an achievement.  "Beto" O'Rourke may be the biggest Democrat loser — which would be really sad, since he most typifies the character of his party.  But there's still hope.  Ol' Beto may be like the itchy rash that never goes away, and he'll continue to harvest Hollywood money and stay in the game.  Whew!

Nancy Pelosi is still most likely to lose her speakership.  Her local media claim that she had already planned to resign her seat and have "nephew" Governor Gavin Newsom appoint her daughter, Christine, to be her successor.  Previous scuttlebutt had Nancy becoming the U.S. ambassador to Italy...a position that the Biden administration has conveniently held open.  And yet, the recent attack on her husband Paul may alter these plans.  His odd behavior in front of the responding police officers and his previous arrest for DUI may reveal that other factors are impairing his behavior.

Is Trump a loser?  At this writing, that seems to be the trend.  His attacks on DeSantis are certainly not helping him.  But then, Mr. Trump was never known for being careful when choosing his words.  His administrative legacy will still remain intact.  And, should there be a DeSantis presidency, the two will be compared to each other, perhaps to their mutual benefit.  Contributing to this process is the relevance of age when considering voter appeal — thanks to both Biden and Pelosi.

Inflation, or rather, the increased cost of living, was a paramount, and particularly relevant issue for the GOP to capitalize on.  The just-reported monthly decline in the rate of increase in the CPI caused the stock market to surge.  What also surged without much, if any, attention being paid is the price of gold.  We may well be adapting to supply shortages, while at the same time seeing the real value of our fiat currency take a downward turn.

Image via Pxhere.