Republicans are clinging to hopes they’ll be swept into power if they run a version of football’s prevent defense, leaving the door open for a Democratic upset and for Americans to suffer two more years of policies they do not want.

A few weeks ago, the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy of California, expressed the GOP’s strategy of keeping their heads down, saying, “This isn’t about Republicans winning.”

Well, then, what’s the point of electing him speaker? This mindset has allowed Democrats to build a levee against a red wave that once seemed inevitable. 

It also played into the conventional wisdom that allowed Democrats to maintain control of the House and Senate for decades, even in the face of 49-state landslides for Presidents Nixon and Reagan in 1972 and 1984. In those elections, voters who split their tickets often explained that though they disapproved of the Democratic Congress, they didn’t hold their Democratic representative responsible. 

It wasn’t until 1994 — when a Republican congressman of Georgia, Newt Gingrich, nationalized congressional races — that the GOP won both houses for the first time since 1952. They did so not by relying on President Clinton’s unpopularity, but by putting a series of policy positions before the people in the Contract with America, knowing that you can’t beat something with nothing.

The headwinds are still strong against Democrats. Last week, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found President Biden’s approval rating at 38 percent, putting him under 50 percent for a full year. The Democratic Congress fares even worse, with a mere 17 percent approving of how it’s “handling its job,” according to Gallup.

Both branches saw small bumps in YouGov after passing the Inflation Reduction Act, due to its feel-good name and the GOP’s failure to make a case that spending $739 billion to reduce inflation is like treating a hangover with tequila shots. 

Even absent strong Republican messaging, Sunday’s NBC News poll found a record 74 percent of registered voters reckon the nation is on the wrong track with Democrats controlling both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. 

Inflation has hit record highs, interest rates and taxes are up, and gasoline prices remain elevated far above what they were when Mr. Biden entered the White House. Foreign policy is adrift and supply chain problems abound. A party with such a record ought to expect a shellacking in light of historical trends. Over 120 years, only two presidents have gained congressional seats in their first midterm election. 

Democrats, however, have embraced the admonition of poet Dylan Thomas to “not go gentle into that good night,” and spent the year chipping away at the Republicans’ lead in the generic congressional ballot. 

The Politico-Morning Consult and USA Today-Suffolk polls found that Democrats had built four-point advantages. Monmouth gave them a seven-point edge, and they’ve now overtaken Republicans in the FiveThirtyEight and Real Clear Politics averages for the first time this year.

All but forfeiting the game, the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, blamed “candidate quality” for harming his chances of returning to the majority. This was reminiscent of President George W. Bush’s adviser, Karl Rove, who cut loose Delaware’s Tea Party candidate, Christine O’Donnell, in 2010, declaring, “This is not a race we’re going to be able to win.”   

Such talk takes voters for granted. Like fans of a football team, they expect to see a strong effort on any given Sunday, regardless of the roster. When President Kennedy answered those who questioned why America chose to go to the moon, he asked, “Why does Rice play Texas? … [N]ot because it will be easy, but because it will be hard.” 

Coaches like Messrs. McCarthy and McConnell still have a lot of plays to run before Election Day, and they owe it to the nation to have a decent game plan regardless of who’s in the huddle.

Americans are dissatisfied with Democratic governance and yearning for another option; it’s up to the Republican leadership to give them one. To do so, they’ll have to stop running the prevent defense, because as my late boss Rush Limbaugh used to say, “All it does is prevent victory.”