How hurricane Michael could affect Florida’s high-stakes midterms

“One Result of Hurricane: Bipartisanship Flows.”

That headline from The New York Times seems a relic from a bygone era. Indeed, it’s not a reference to hurricane Michael, the Category 4 storm that slammed into the Florida Panhandle earlier this week and wrought devastation across the southeastern United States.

It dates to Oct. 31, 2012, days before that year’s cliffhanger presidential election. Superstorm Sandy had just struck the New Jersey coast, and the state’s then-governor, Republican Chris Christie, greeted a visiting President Barack Obama warmly. At a joint news conference, Mr. Christie praised their “great working relationship.”

Six years later, on the eve of President Trump’s first midterm elections, such bipartisan comity seems unimaginable. The