BEDFORD, Pa. — Democrats have had all of the opportunity in the world to win and win big in this year’s midterm election cycle. The conservative populist coalition that placed Donald Trump in the White House two years ago hadn’t wavered in their support for the president, but they weren’t all exactly fans of Republicans in Congress, whom they saw as part of the Swamp.

Trump, they believed, had their back and was just mean enough to be that guy who stood up to Washington for them.