To fit the pieces together let’s look at three voters: Tom’s a Democrat, Dick’s a Republican, Harry’s an Independent – Tom never votes for a Republican; Dick never votes for a Democrat; and every election Harry has to make a choice – but who he chooses wins.

Each party has what you could call a creed. When the Great Depression hit working people, Franklin Roosevelt handed Democrats the New Deal creed – Democrats are still marching down that road. When Reagan came along Republicans switched roads, became conservative. Forty years later, Trump came along and Republicans switched roads again, now they’re Trumpsters.

That’s politics in a nutshell. Three kinds of voters. Two creeds.

Last year, shaking his head Harry the Independent, not liking either Kamala Harris or Trump, finally decided Kamala was worse, voted for Trump.

Last week about-facing Harry rushed to the polls to vote against Trump. So what force drove Harry – and millions of Independents – into Democrats’ arms?

Pundits are giving us a long list of reasons: Inflation’s too high, grocery prices have gone up, the government’s shutdown, people can’t afford health care, poor people can’t get food stamps.

But at the end of the day it’s simpler than that: We see a lot of evils on the loose in politics these days – after he got back in the White House, dead-serious, Trump told us we’re in a new ‘Golden Age’ thanks to him.

By election day it was clear to Harry that was a myth. The chickens flew home to roost. And Republicans paid a price.