ANALYSIS — Voters in Kentucky, Mississippi, and Virginia were gracious enough to go to the polls on Tuesday and give us some tangible results to chew over with 12 months to go before the 2020 elections. Here are some thoughts.

Kentucky was not an upset. Inside Elections changed its rating on the governor’s race from Lean Republican to Toss-up in mid July after finding Gov. Matt Bevin very vulnerable. So those who were surprised by Democrat Andy Beshear’s declared victory weren’t paying close enough attention.

Trump was an asset, not a liability. Without a last-minute push and visit from President Donald Trump, Bevin would have probably lost by a wider margin. The decision to urge Kentucky voters to see their ballots as sending a message to the nation as a whole was the right strategy for the governor and Republicans. It just wasn’t enough to solve Bevin’s problems.

Impeachment isn’t the silver bullet for Republicans. Complaining about the impeachment process might galvanize the GOP base, but Kentucky showed there’s a limit, and Republicans can’t rely on it as a cure-all.