Bruni: But please explain for me why those Republicans would win and why enough others would win for your House majority to be preserved? By which I mean: Yesterday’s results suggested an anti-incumbent, anti-establishment mood in the electorate, and right now, with control of all of government, Republicans are the establishment. What are Democrats doing wrong? How are they leaving themselves vulnerable and possibly missing what should be a prime opportunity here?

Bliss: Incumbents who work hard, raise money, and achieve results on issues their constituents care about can and will win. Think Rob Portman model.

One thing to remember — unless there is a new party created in this country between now and November, the election is going to be close. What is today’s Democratic Party? It is a party that talks nonstop about Russia. It is a party that says please vote for me so I can raise your taxes. It’s a party that wants America’s most unpopular, polarizing politician (Nancy Pelosi!) to be in charge of all of this. And let’s not forget about the crowded, nasty, divisive primaries going on around the country that are going to produce nominees who are to the left of Bernie Sanders and want to do nothing but impeach the president.

Bruni: Ah, Nancy Pelosi. I should have started an office pool here to guess how many minutes before she came up! Some pushback from me, if I may: First off, I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but I think Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell keep pace with or best her when it comes to unpopularity. I know you’ll correct me if I’m wrong. But beyond that, Conor Lamb renounced her — and won. Other Democratic candidates are renouncing her (so to speak). And isn’t she a tired play for Republicans at this point? Isn’t there a danger that ads using her become a broken record and maybe come across as sexist to boot?

Bliss: Frank, you are very rarely wrong, but this time you are. Nancy Pelosi is the most unpopular, divisive politician in America. Period. I’m very blessed to have her in my life and hope she never, ever retires. In just the last week, she promised to be speaker next year and promised to raise middle-class taxes next year. Democratic candidates across the country can say whatever they want, but Pelosi is a central theme to this year’s elections. And we’re not even talking about Democratic primaries — that’d be a great question to ask!

Bruni: I will get to Democratic primaries! But first I want to revel in “very rarely wrong,” which I plan to put on a T-shirt and wear, with the phrase attributed to you. The Democratic primaries in a second, but one other thing before: Another rather prominent Democratic woman has begun popping up in ads for Republican Senate candidates and maybe House candidates (you tell me): Hillary Clinton. Are we going to be seeing more of that? And isn’t that a focus on the past that violates the dictum that campaigns are about the future?

Bliss: Sure, why not? Maybe we’d stop using her if she’d stop making offensive comments all the time.