We didn’t see the much-anticipated “red wave” of Republican victories in midterm elections, nor did we see a “blue wave” of overwhelming Democratic wins. The newly elected House of Representatives and Senate remain closely divided between the two parties, with Democrats holding onto their Senate majority and the House majority still undetermined.
What we did see was a “red, white and blue wave” of victories for American democracy. That’s good news for us all.
By a “red, white and blue wave,” I mean an acceptance of election results by defeated candidates and their supporters. All the losing Democratic candidates and most of the losing Republican candidates have conceded defeat. I hope the holdouts will accept reality soon.
Thankfully, the midterms went smoothly and were free of violence. The big increase in mail-in ballots as a result of the pandemic slowed vote counts in close races in several states but didn’t affect the accuracy of the results.
As President Biden said the day after the elections, “it was a good day, I think, for democracy.” He continued: “Our democracy has been tested in recent years. But with their votes, the American people have spoken and proven once again that democracy is who we are.”
I know full well that no candidate wants to lose an election, nor do his or her supporters. I’ve experienced the bitter pain of defeat and shed plenty of tears when my efforts to elect Democratic candidates have failed, most notably when I managed Vice President Al Gore’s presidential campaign in 2000.
But despite an extremely close race, Gore graciously conceded defeat to George W. Bush, just as every losing presidential candidate in American history did — until President Donald Trump in 2020.
Without the acceptance of defeat by election losers, America loses. That’s because if we can’t settle our differences at the ballot box, the only alternative is to settle them with bloodshed. Just look at the suffering we’ve experienced in the past two years because of Trump’s false claims that he was reelected in 2020 in a landslide, which millions of his supporters still believe.
Trump’s election lies incited the Jan. 6 deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol in an effort to overturn his defeat — a defeat confirmed by more than 60 court decisions. Republican and Democratic election workers, government officials and candidates have faced death threats and attacks ever since, far too numerous to list here.
For example, in late October federal law enforcement agencies warned in a bulletin that “perceptions of election-related fraud and dissatisfaction with electoral outcomes likely will result in heightened threats of violence against a broad range of targets ― such as ideological opponents and election workers.” Democrats weren’t making these threats, but some Republicans were.
Fortunately, violence didn’t break out during midterm balloting but on Oct. 28 authorities said a man who embraced Trump’s election lies broke into the San Francisco home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) with the intention of breaking her kneecaps. Police said that upon learning she was not home, the man attacked Pelosi’s 82-year-old husband Paul, fracturing his skull and badly injuring his right arm and hands.
Still, Trump’s election lies continue. After the U.S. Senate race in Arizona was called Friday night in favor of Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, Trump posted on his social media platform: “Idiot, and possibly corrupt, officials have lost control of the tainted Election in Arizona. MACHINES BROKEN IN REPUBLICAN AREAS. A NEW ELECTION MUST BE CALLED FOR IMMEDIATELY!” There is no truth to these claims. Kelly won perfectly legitimately, just as President Biden did in 2020. But Trump refuses to accept his loss and has said he never will.
Unfortunately, Trump has shaken the faith of millions of Americans in the integrity of American elections. A Monmouth University poll published in September found that while 63 percent of Americans “believe Joe Biden won the 2020 election fair and square,” only 28 percent of Republicans do, compared with 64 percent of independents and an overwhelming 95 percent of Democrats. This partisan divide is dangerous.
And in another disturbing development, at least 220 Republican candidates who questioned the 2020 election results were elected in the midterms, while at least 120 lost, The New York Times reported. But on a positive note, all the Republican election deniers running to become the top election officials in swing states were defeated in their races.
As the late Democratic Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York said: “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” Democrats and Republicans will never agree on all issues, nor should they, but we need Americans of every political persuasion to accept the factual outcome of our elections. Otherwise, our democracy remains in grave peril.
America survived a Civil War that broke our country apart. It will take time, but I’m confident we will survive the divisions Trump has sowed. Let’s all remember that far more unites us than divides us and that fellow Americans we disagree with are our adversaries, not our enemies. And let’s dedicate ourselves to fulfilling the promise of the Pledge of Allegiance and truly become one nation “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Donna Brazile is a political strategist, a contributor to ABC News and former chair of the Democratic National Committee. She is the author of “Hacks: Inside the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House.”