In January I was rebuked by some readers for predicting that the GOP would lose, and for saying it deserved to lose, too.

"It doesn't matter that Americans are generally eager to send Mr. Obama packing," I wrote. "All they need is to be reasonably sure that the alternative won't be another fiasco. But they can't be reasonably sure, so it's going to be four more years of the disappointment you already know."

I...