What just happened?
In this moment that calls for humility and curiosity, there are a few things I wish I had seen coming.
For all the whining about people wanting to know more about Vice President Kamala Harris‘ plans, this was never a campaign about policy proposals. What we have learned is that a majority of voters are angry at the system and at the government, and want change – whatever that looks like. Would a campaign longer than 107 days have made a difference? Maybe. But as long as the candidate was from the same party as the party in power, these headwinds may have proven insurmountable.
The role of racism, sexism and the massive dysfunction of the information system are all issues worth exploring.
But there are also some hard truths.
Millions of people voted to protect abortion rights in seven states, and then many of them also voted in elections Donald Trumpthe same man who put the three people on the Supreme Court, who immediately adopted it.
Trump received no more votes than he did in 2020, but almost every major demographic group went his way, with the exception of white, college-educated voters.
In my opinion, the most important groups of voters we need to listen to right now are those who didn’t show up. The Americans who once felt connected to the Democratic agenda, but now feel abandoned or forgotten. These are not all white working class voters.
Finally, no one should feel powerless right now. When Trump was first elected, he said he would repeal the Affordable Care Act. Do you know what happened? People became active. They called their congressmen and went to meetings. They told their representatives, “You can’t take away my health insurance.” And guess what? It didn’t happen. Not every battle will be won. But leaders have yet to emerge, movements have yet to take shape, and as much thought needs to be done, there is also a lot of power we can find in this moment.
All eyes on the House
Now that Republicans have gained control of the Senate, Democrats’ only remaining hope for a check on the Trump administration’s agenda rests on flipping the House of Representatives. According to the House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries“The path to regaining the majority now runs through ‘too close to call pick-up’ opportunities” in Arizona, Oregon, Iowa and California.
But the numbers make it an uphill battle. According to the NBC News Decision Desk, Democrats must win seventeen of the remaining races to achieve a majority. Currently, Republicans are leading in several of those uncalled races, including two razor-thin contests in Iowa and California.
Despite flipping two districts in New York, Democrats’ gains were offset by Republican Party victories in the “blue wall” states of Michigan and Pennsylvania. With votes still being counted, it could take weeks of recounts and voting rounds to reach a final result — and confirm whether Democrats in Congress will have any power in January.
Historic victories on election day
While the election results at the top of the bill were incredibly difficult, on a more positive note, here are some of the historic victories we saw this Election Day:
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Lisa Blunt Rochester will be the first woman and first black senator from Delaware.
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Angela Alsobrooks will be the first black senator in Maryland history.
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For the first time, more than one Black woman will serve in the U.S. Senate at the same time.
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Andy Kim will be the first ever Korean-American senator and the first Asian-American senator from New Jersey.
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Sarah McBride will be the first openly transgender member of Congress.
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Suhas Subramanyam will be the first South Asian member of Congress to represent Virginia.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
