This might have been the best outcome for our democracy.

Obviously, this was not the outcome we had hoped for. Holding both chambers would have made a world of difference for the country, and benefitted our party for 2024.

This might be the second best outcome for our party, but I wonder if it wasn't the better outcome for our country. We demonstrated to election deniers that we can lose. That should give them pause: after all, if we were capable of rigging elections, wouldn't we have saved the House? We wanted it badly, and didn't get it.

I wonder, though: if we did keep both chambers, what would that do politically? The election deniers would have hit the roof, with accusations flying everywhere. J6-style attacks could have been staged at state capitols, and the country pushed closer to breaking apart.

But now? Barely a peep. The RNC was quick to boast about winning the House. No problem with those ballots.

While I would have greatly preferred to continue checking agenda items off our list, I would not at the expense of a second civil war. This outcome is bittersweet, but maybe a little sweeter when you consider an alternative timeline of utter chaos.

As it stands, we dodged a bullet. We blunted the worst of the expected red wave, and it was not a humiliating defeat for either side. Republicans won't be able to get anything done for the people. The election results were widely accepted, and seemed to go fairly smoothly.

Nothing is ever permanent in politics, so an uneasy truce may be the best we can hope for at this point. Democracy, like justice, must be continually safeguarded. Our country is battered, but holding. We live to fight another day.