Abby McCloskey, The Dallas Morning News, November 7, 2018

“You can almost hear the collective sigh of relief that it's over. The campaign yard signs soon to be replaced by holiday decorations. There's so much not to like about politics these days — the toxicity, the divisiveness.

For those into politics, there was victory for everyone in the 2018 midterms, a candle of hope for the political future depending on which side you fall.

Democrats are surely happy to have taken the House, ushering in the return of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrat leadership to key committees. For liberals, Tuesday was a resounding referendum on President Donald Trump's excesses from the body of Congress that most closely represents how the majority of Americans feel. Finally, a check on the wayward president.

Republicans are surely happy to have kept the Senate, holding off Democrats in some of the highest-profile races in the country, including Texas, with Democrat Beto O'Rourke losing to Republican Ted Cruz. For Republicans, their dominance in the Senate is an endorsement of Trump, whose family actively campaigned for so many of these senators; a wide-open runway to continue the conservative remaking of the judiciary and to protect the president from the liberal assault. "Tremendous success tonight. Thank you all," tweeted the president.

Both sides are emboldened. And yet zooming out, little has actually changed. The status quo of congressional inaction is likely to continue. . . . “