We’re now a year away from the 2018 congressional midterm elections. The media and most pundits are convinced the midterms will be good news for Democrats because of President Donald Trump’s low approval ratings. A fairer reading of the data is more mixed: Republicans have reason to be wary, but they are not yet looking at the sort of “wave” election that sweeps one party out of office with massive losses.

Tax reform is now the order of the day. Congressional Republicans have been eager all year to rewrite the tax code. Slashing and simplifying taxes is, they believe, the straw that stirs our economic drink. Get this right, they say, and America will enter a new golden age of fast growth.

This might well be true. But the details of their tax proposal will pose many political problems for the GOP. Too many provisions give the impression that the party cares more about helping the well-off than about aiding average Americans and their families.

President Donald Trump’s early September debt-ceiling deal with Democratic congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer shocked Washington Republicans. How, they asked, could a Republican president deal with the Democratic minority on such an important issue without any notice, consultation, or agreement with the congressional leaders of his own party? That they ask this question shows how they still, two years after Donald Trump entered the ring, do not understand either the nature of the man or the nature of his political coalition.

President Donald Trump’s campaign opponents frequently attacked his character. They said he was unstable and prone to anger. They tried to highlight the purportedly dangerous nature of these traits by pointing to the president’s control of our nuclear arsenal. They asked, “Do you trust Trump with the nuclear codes?” Despite misgivings, Americans ultimately shrugged off those concerns and trusted him with the bomb.

The Republican Senate’s failure to repeal or replace Obamacare is more than simply a stunning condemnation of Republican voters and the administration. It is an exposure of the party’s intellectual incoherence.

Donald Trump’s approval rating may be falling to record lows, but not among his backers. It doesn’t seem to matter what news comes out: turmoil among our allies, the Comey testimony, a dysfunctional White House. If you voted for Trump in November, polls show you are almost certain still to view him favorably. That is what is keeping him in power and out of danger of impeachment or a forced resignation.