Glass Half Full

Last night's election results, whether one is a Democrat or a Republican, could be seen as a glass half full, of half empty, depending on the attitude. As a Democrat, I choose to see it half full. Yes, the outcome in the Senate was not what I hoped (it appears the Republicans picked up two seats, but Arizona and Mississippi are still to be decided, and there may be a recount in Florida).

But, the great news is that the House of Representatives is back in Democratic hands, which means that Trump's agenda will be dead in the water. No tax breaks for billionaires, no gutting of Medicaid or Social Security, no repealing of the ACA. Beyond that, the fresh faces who are coming into Congress are like a Benetton ad, and mostly women. The first two Muslim women elected. The first two Native American women (pictured above). The first black Congresswomen in Massachusetts, Illinois, and Connecticut. The first black man elected to Congress from Colorado. The first two Latina women elected from Texas.

There was also great news in the governor races. Democrats picked up seven governorships, including the first Latina governor and the first openly gay governor. There is still a fight going on in Georgia, as the race is very close. I hope that Stacey Abrams can become the first black woman governor of any state. If she loses, I cry foul, as the man she was running against, Brian Kemp, was the very man who threw out thousands of registrations in a blatant case of conflict of interest.

The best gubernatorial outcome came in Kansas, when Kris Kobach, one of the vilest politicians in the land, who was once ordered by a judge to take a remedial law class (while he was attorney general of the state) was defeated by Laura Kelly. Kansas is one of the most conservative states in the country, and speaking of Kansas, Sharice Davids, pictured above left, is a Native American lesbian Democrat, and she got elected in Kansas! Wonder of wonders!

In my state of Nevada, the results were almost all blue. Jacky Rosen flipped the only Senate seat from red to blue, defeating Dean Heller. Steve Sisolak became the first Republican governor in Nevada since 1994, and three of the four congressional seats went Democrat.

Of course there were heartbreaks. I thought Andrew Gillum would win the governorship of Florida, but there are just too many crackers in that state. The biggest let-down for progressives was the loss of Beto O'Rourke in Texas. We really thought he was going to boot smarmy Ted Cruz out of the Senate. That would have been worthy of a major celebration. But I don't think we've seen the last of Beto. He has a touch of Kennedy and Obama to him, and I wouldn't be surprised if he goes ahead and runs for president. After all, another president was elected two years after he lost a big Senate race. His name was Abraham Lincoln.