America elects its office holders by judgments of those who vote, but sadly in historical terms, many decent, outstanding political leaders are defeated by successors who turn out to be true disasters and makes it hard to understand the public mentality.
Just a few examples in the past two generations:
1980—Senator Frank Church of Idaho (D)
Senator George McGovern of South Dakota (D)
Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana (D)
Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin (D)
Senator Jacob Javits of New York (R)
1984—Senator Charles Percy of Illinois (R)
1988—Senator Lowell Weicker of Connecticut (R)
2004—Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota (D)
2010—Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin (D)
2012– Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana (R)
2018—Senator Bill Nelson of Florida (D)
Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri (D)
2020—Senator Doug Jones of Alabama (D)
2024—Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio (D)
Senator Jon Tester of Montana (D)
Notice some outstanding Republicans (Javits, Percy, Weicker, Lugar) are included, while the rest are Democrats!
Examples of some “new” Senators elected who have been seen as terrible alternatives:
Dan Quayle to replace Birch Bayh
Alfonse D’Amato to replace Jacob Javits
Ron Johnson to replace Russ Feingold
Rick Scott to replace Bill Nelson
Josh Hawley to replace Claire McCaskill
Tommy Tuberville to replace Doug Jones
And an example of an “open” Senate seat where the “better’ candidate lost, and America has to deal with the outcome—Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan losing to JD Vance in 2022, now the 50th Vice President of the United States, a hearbeat away from the Presidency, and causing great dismay in many respects!