1. Inflation was not the big issue that we were told it was. The GOP said a red wave was coming and that they could win up to 60 seats in the House of Representatives because of this issue. That didn't happen and it wasn't for many people top of mind when voting.
2. Abortion rights was important to many voters. Through ballot initiatives, Constitutional changes and who won in some states, it is clear Americans support abortion rights by a majority. This is something that will continue to be an issue that will influence voting for some time.
3. Redistricting is more important that good candidates. In many states redistricting led to candidates being able to pick their voters and thus won. Florida, led by Ron Desantis, truly worked the process to help the GOP gain House seats. His re-election also showed he usurped Donald Trump as the leader of the Republicans moving forward and setting up a GOP civil war.
4. To that end, Trump is a drag on the GOP. His hand-picked candidates lost in many areas around the country. Some in spectacular fashion. Trump's endorsement did not have the same cache as one would think. What is amazing is that the election deniers were the worst performers across the country. So perhaps the era of Trump is over.
5. The myth of the liberal media found its demise as well. We watched in the last few months at CNN, once called the Communist News Network, pivoted so hard to bring in right wing voices in the last few months they cause so much whiplash they hired a in-house neck specialist. Every major news outlet had pundits saying we were in for red wave. That didn't happen.
6. Punditry itself also took a hit. There are several people who should be eating crow this morning after making outrageous claims about how Biden was in trouble, that people were going to send the White House a message, etc. This morning those same voices are saying the opposite.
EDIT: I almost forgot 7. Polls are getting worse. Not because polls don't work, they do. But because there are dishonest biased pollsters who create a narrative, picked up by places like RealClearPolitics and Nate Silver and try to sell the outlier (or liar) polls as legitimate. This had so many expecting a red wave that frankly was never going to happen.
Our country is still divided. We will continue to see nonsense in our politics. There will be some who will say this election was rigged. (Even if the Democrats lose the House). But there is hope that we are still the country that our ideals say we are. Look no further than here. Tim Ryan's concession speech last night after losing to JD Vance is what we should all strive to be as a country. Let's hope tonight is a lesson for all of us. But we continue to stand up for the things we believe is good for our country.
