My friend Brendan Nyhan provides us with this handy midterm election bingo card so that we’re all on the same page tomorrow night. Print it out and get ready to play along!

In all seriousness, though, Nyhan has an excellent blog post about what sorts of malarkey we should expect from pundits tomorrow night (and, surely, Wednesday too).

Here’s how he begins:

It’s long been obvious that Obama’s political standing would decline as a result of the poor economy and the passage of time. Similarly, substantial Democratic losses in the House were always likely given the large number of seats the party had to defend in a midterm election in which it controls the presidency. The continued weakness of the economy subsequently appears to have enhanced the Republican advantage, helping to produce tomorrow’s pro-GOP wave.

Instead of focusing on these structural factors, journalists and other political figures have constructed a staggering number of ad hoc claims about messaging, tactics, etc. to “explain” what has happened to Obama and the Democrats.

OK, now go read the rest.