Sometimes in politics you get lucky.

For weeks, polling predicted a tight race between Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock in Georgia’s Senate runoff. The early returns last night affirmed that the polling was correct. The GOP teetered on the edge of electoral disaster.

But in the end, thankfully, Georgians stepped away from the abyss. Traditionally conservative voters in the suburbs came through and delivered a well-earned Republican victory by sending the Republican nominee down to defeat.

I’m not trying to be cute in saying that. (Fine, a little cute.) Rarely has an election loss produced as much long-term benefit for a party at such meager short-term cost as Tuesday’s did. Right-wing populists won’t be argued out of believing that Trump is America’s savior and the silent majority of voters support the MAGA agenda. But they might have those beliefs gradually beaten out of them at the polls in swing states.