I am disheartened that the candidates I identified with radical truth-telling lost their state-wide races. The candidates who prevailed in contested races were moderates campaigning on good government issues. In short, they promised to do the same things we've always done, just better and with more compassion and respect.
This comfortable notion is soothing balm for these times, but it does not represent the views of almost half the country. There is a polar division in this country other than red vs. blue. There's also a polar division between "do things competently and compassionately, make small changes" and "it's time for fundamental structural change of our government."
I am a left-leaning Democratic Socialist who finds himself in the latter category, which also includes practically the entire Trump base. I fully understand at least one rationale for voting for Trump, and I accept that one can be of good character and high moral standards and support him. He has certainly rendered the go-along-to-get-yours class of mercenary politicians in the GOP utterly powerless. If that was high on your list, he is your man.
I doubt the change in the majority party in the house will turn out like everyone expects it to now. It is now more likely that the Special Counsel's report will see public scrutiny, that's a very good thing, perhaps the most important thing, but it won't be the cure-all for the corruption in the executive branch. Trump will still have the lock-step support of the Senate.
At the same time, this likely also won't be an absolutely formulaic return to the democratic version of do-nothingness we saw at the end of Obama presidency. There are a number of women and younger military veterans among the newly elected. There's some hope.
