By Daniel Nardini

The mid-term elections were not the Republican red wave so many commentators were talking about. The U.S. House of Representatives looks like it will still be dominated by a Republican Party majority, and in that regards the pundits may be right. The Democratic Party still barely holds the very slight majority in the U.S. Senate. The Republican Party still has a majority of control of all the states in this country, although the Democratic Party retains control over most of the most populous states (Texas being a notable exception). In so many ways the battle lines have not changed; what the Republicans largely held control over before they still do, and whatever the Democrats largely controlled before they still do.

Hence, stalemate. Probably the only good news was that the mid-term voting for the most part remained peaceful. Will that remain true in the coming months? Unknown. There could still be extreme right wing or left wing violence that might occur. And yet, there might be an important shift. Part of the reason why there has been no violence is because I believe so many Americans are just sick and tired of seeing this country being politically torn apart in the name of some radical cause(s). Whatever many people may feel about current U.S. President Joe Biden, a possible Republican plan of trying to impeach him is too much (hence why the U.S. Congress is divided as it is). People in so many ways are concerned about jobs, the economy, inflation, crime, and the supply chain issues this is all true.

And yet people are also worried about hot button issues such as abortion, workers’ rights, the separation of religion from state, and protecting democracies overseas like Ukraine against aggression from its much larger neighbor Russia. Interestingly those Republican candidates who favored banning abortion, not helping Ukraine, and being against workers’ right largely lost. Many of these candidates were heavily supported by former U.S. President Donald Trump, and in so may ways it was because of this support that they lost. In too many ways, the former president has embraced radical ideas such as the conspiracy that all of the voting machines are somehow “rigged.” I believe many Americans are getting tired of hearing this, and just want the government to function to deal with the current problems at hand.

Hopefully this is what is happening. I am hoping that more Americans are turning away from radicalism. Hopefully, the mid-term election results mean that Americans are more interested in practical solutions to all of the problems at hand. This hopefully is working on both sides of the isle. In my view, it is too early to tell if this is true. On the surface, America still remains a pretty divided country. But for the sake of this country and the future of its people, I choose to be an optimist.