On to the next one

Don't worry about catching your breath following this month's election – we're heading right back to where we started.

The Nov. 8 election came with expected results here in the Hawkeye State. Republicans ransacked Iowa, further cementing their absolute monopoly in Des Moines. Gov. Kim Reynolds coasted to an easy victory over her hapless opponent Deidre DeJear by winning all but four of the state's 99 counties. The GOP also easily retained majorities in the House and Senate. What's worse for rudderless Iowa Democrats, all four seats in the U.S House are now red and only one incumbent at the state level secured re-election. Auditor Rob Sand now stands alone at the Statehouse, as longtime Democratic officeholders Attorney General Tom Miller and Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald finally succumbed to the Republican stranglehold. Miller was elected in 1978 and Fitzgerald in 1982.

Results for the GOP were much less impressive nationwide. Though many predicted a "red wave" from sea to shining sea, the outcome was anything but. The party barely flipped the U.S. House and the Senate will likely remain the same as it is now. Hotly-contested campaigns for the Arizona governor's office and other U.S Senate seats were also flubbed by Republicans, as Democrats held on for big wins. Turns out, falsely claiming elections are rigged is a bad strategy for the GOP in races with thin margins for error. Who could have possibly imagined that?

Where do we go from here? Why, on to the 2024 presidential election of course. Former president Donald Trump last week announced another White House run. This impending news has come with groans from some of the party's leadership and many conservative talking heads. They have increasingly blamed Trump for unnecessarily meddling in the midterm elections, much to his furious chagrin. Some believe it's time the party moves on from the former chief executive, however, you don't need a crystal ball to predict that won't happen any time soon. Time will tell if any viable Republican challengers actually step forward to knock Trump off his perch of party power. The safe money says no.

Americans can only grin and bear it. Blue or red, the nation's politics are completely toxic and have been for more than a decade. There's no hope of that coming to an end either, as social media and biased news outlets allow people to live in an echo chamber of one-sided political vitriol. There is no will for bipartisanship these days and any politician who attempts to work with "the other side" is vilified by their party's base. The United States of America is hardly united.

So, we're on to the next one. Nobody asked for it, but we'll all have to endure it nonetheless. The 2024 presidential campaign could be déjà vu all over again with Trump squaring off against Joe Biden, and that is absolutely nothing to look forward to.