So how did the Democrats manage to lose so badly in Tuesday’s midterm election? With a strategy that Jon Stewart succinctly described as the “chickenshit gambit.”

“It’s named, of course, for Sen. Dickless H. Chickenshit, who, when he was asked whether he supported the Emancipation Proclamation, famously said, ‘Huh? What? Huh?’ and then had to pretend to be hard of hearing for the rest of his life,” Stewart said on Thursday night’s “Daily Show.”

Stewart said red-state Democrats got President Barack Obama to delay action on major issues, such as immigration and the Keystone XL pipeline. The Democrats then wouldn’t have to take an unpopular stand that might cost them votes, or in some cases, could even score points by criticizing the president for delaying action.

So how’d those red-state Democrats do?

Four of the five senators lost, and the fifth is about to lose in a runoff, Stewart said.

“It’s like Democrats came up with this plan to produce ‘Springtime for Hitler,'” Stewart said, referring to the play in the “The Producers” used to scam investors. “But only because they really thought it was a good fucking play.”