Thread by @ThyConsigliori

1) Post Midterm Analysis – 7 November 2018

I can't believe how wrong I was. I honestly thought - foolish me - that I'd be SO upset if we lost the House, which I clearly feared we might.

2) My own deeply qualified prediction was we'd keep it by one or two, and that losing it by so little as one would have dire consequences. I suspect, though, that beyond the obvious and so-bad control of committees and the ugliness I still do project...

3) I have close to zero negative emotion this morning. That really surprises me!

I absolutely hate losing, no kidding. I've always said, show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser. But, I feel like precisely that today, a good loser. And I'm starting to unpack why.

4) First, terrible as I expect the Democrat House committee leaders are going to be, I'm now suspecting they'll be making fools of themselves by letting loose those inner demons.

5) Consider the Kavanaugh effect and its impact on the Senate outcomes. Perhaps giving up seats in the Senate will knock some sense, maybe even a bit of proportionate thinking - nah, it won't, but I'm allowed to fantasize it might today, and I surely didn't foresee that!

6) Second, think about how Trump fought for senators and key governors, and in helping them win, added both to the stack of debts owed to him and his respect within the GOP itself.

7) If I heard one thing from both Democrat and Republican commentators last night, more than anything else, it is how Trump now finally completely owns the Republican party.

8) Could it be? We just watched the death of the Republican #NeverTrump movement and it went down without so much as a single skirmish last night? If that's true, it's YUGE!

9) Also, the composition of the Republican side has tilted toward those who not only actually agree with President Trump, but who campaigned on it and won due to those agreements.

10) A unified effort on our side, even though we enjoy less titular control, may well offer deep advantages we haven't contemplated sufficiently till now. Exciting!

11) And third, America is, I confess, truly wise to like split government. That means more than just that we have to debate, which is such a good thing, or that we have to fight for only those important things we care most about, it also means we have to listen to each other.

12) No side will automatically win, with its ears plugged and not so much as a glance at the other side or its case. We have to listen to each other now if we wish to get anything done at all.

13) I don't imagine that, like a married couple really making up after our latest blowout conflict, we'll come together with love and respect, but I do imagine that our furious fantasies of divorce will now wane, at least a bit.

14) Maybe, I hope!, we'll get down to making this marriage work a bit better than the recent spate of conflicts would indicate.

I, for one, am ready to accept Republican/Democrat marriage counseling if that's what's called for.

15) But, even if it's just more fighting, with the field evened out a bit, I can and do hope for a bit less bile in the coming fights, and who knows, maybe a bit better set of outcomes! To be sure, we'll soon enough see.

16) And yes, I confess, I really do plan and hope our side will take the House right back next time. Still, to my Democrat colleagues I commit to at least laugh at myself more in the coming two years of spats and squabbles.

17) Finis - And when speaking to you, my own mantra will simply be, let's Make America Better Yet - #MABY.

Devilish grin.