PAUL CHRISTENSEN

The last little trickle of disappointments from the midterms came through the radio while we were driving through long, sloping fields of old snow. Florida and Georgia had elected hard-nosed red-state Republicans over Democrats, by fairly slim margins to protect the dismal status quo of the Old South. California had routed the last Republican from Orange County, and turned the whole state a deep, luxurious blue, even as the wild fires raged and snarled like medieval dragons a