Teams that won a lot of very close games didn’t possess some special sauce for victory. Winning a bunch of close games had little predictive value. In fact, teams with a pattern of winning close games were also good candidates to start losing more than their win-loss record would have suggested. Winning close races in these districts is not a sign that Republicans will keep winning close races in less favorable places. Yet a handful of close losses in conservative districts shouldn’t make Democrats panic, no matter what this morning’s punditry says.

Source: New York Times June 21, 2017 11:48 UTC