Whether you are ecstatic or chagrined over GOP losses during the midterms, one thing Karl Rove is sure of: Democrats are in a pickle.

For example, take their cries of “affordability.”  Beyond shouting  “more money in the pocket,” what ideas did Democrats offer?

Democrats love to talk about “working people” as though working folk were the sole property of the Democratic Party. It wasn’t like Democrats had ideas to help the working folk.

(Instead), it was to highlight Mr. Trump’s inaction on the cost of living and his preoccupation with expensive remodeling plans.

Rove recommends Republicans would do well recovering a neglected political habit: treat governing as serious political work rather than performance art. Could they not offer proposals to lower costs, make healthcare more affordable, expand the housing supply, ease the federal regulatory burden, and cut wasteful and fraudulent spending? Most Americans understand that inflation is the result of too much money chasing too few goods, and, as Rove writes, wasteful spending is part of that equation.

Even if their ideas have little chance of passage by the lopsided Democratic congressional majorities, the Republicans must present America with these sound ideas. Republicans must convince voters that their ideas are the correct ones for America’s future.

If Republicans fail at this, the Republican Party’s “time in the wilderness could last far longer, and the damage to our country could be far greater, especially if the left dictates the Democratic agenda.”

The GOP can’t return to some past bright era, Rove reminds readers. “It has to chart a course for the future.”

Republicans should draw on timeless conservative principles to meet America’s challenges. As Lincoln said, “as our case is new, so must we think anew, and act anew.” The party of Lincoln should heed this sage advice.