A bad lose for Trump in midterms would also be bad for JD Vance

A huge amount is resting on the result of the midterms on November 3. It's not just about who wins majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate. It's also about Donald Trump's final two years and, even more important, who benfits or doesn't benefit among the hopefuls who want to be president after Trump. The key figure must be JD Vance, the vice president. If the Republicans lose control of the House and Senate, as predicted by some pollsters, the repercussions will hit Vance hardest because his future status as presidential candidate will be severely harmed by Trump's fall from grace. It will be difficult for him to recover if the Democrats win both Houses of Congress. Marco Rubio, however, wouldn't be so badly damaged because as secretary of state and national security adviser, he will not be so closely linked to Trump's political failures. So, a bad result in the midterms might give him a boost, or at least place him in a less vulenerable position than the vice president. A big win for the Democrats, of course, would improve the chances of a Democrat winning the White House. However, that will depend on the quality of the contenders. Gavin Newsom, the California governor, clearly thinks of himself as the lead contender, but he has a long way to go to persuade voters he is the man to replace Trump. As for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the sparky Repreentative for New York's 14th congressional district, she has style and political guts but, at 37, her socialist agenda would probably put off too many voters of whatever persuasion. She is one to watch for the future, however.