The presidential race is over. Donald Trump won the presidency. Even more disturbing, he won the popular vote. Immediately, talk turns to why it happened. Then quickly, to the path ahead.
The outcome of control in the House is still in the air. Put another way, there is still a path for Democrats to control a critical part of the federal government. Even if they fall short, Mike Johnson will face the same difficult path to governing with a tiny majority.
Democrats lost the Senate, but overperformed on every metric. They will hold at least 47 seats — having defied presidential gravity in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin. Despite a premature call by AP, Bob Casey still has a path to win in Pennsylvania, where we have already seen Republicans file, and lose, litigation.
The biggest question on peoples’ minds is what path our country is on. Have we forfeited American leadership in the world to Vladimir Putin? Did we trade in American democracy for the false promise of lower prices? Is rule of law a quaint notion for the history books?
I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Tuesday was a very bad night for Democrats and for democracy. But…
