If we still believe the phrase “United we stand, divided we fall,” then the message of the midterms was, Look Out Below. Even with new variables like Trump in the White House, higher turnout, and a massive (almost obsessive) interest in politics, America’s long division held. A blue wave helped Dems take back the House. A red wall enabled the Senate to maintain control of the Senate. And the president (surprise) declared victory. As FiveThirtyEight’s Clare Malone explains, Election Night Defied A Single Takeaway. “Instead, the election was an accurate reflection of where the country stands: existentially muddled, politically divided and historically engaged with its politics.”

+ CNN: A divided Congress, a divided America.

+ Ronald Brownstein: “The evening amounted to a simultaneous repudiation and reaffirmation of Trump from two very different Americas, and underscored the fundamental demographic, cultural, and economic changes reshaping America and its politics.”

+ “The midterm elections have ended in a mixed result. The vote certainly was not a decisive repudiation of Trump, nor was it anything like the resounding endorsement he craved.” The New Yorker’s David Remnick reflects on the 2018 midterms.

+ We’ll dig in more below, but for a quick overview, here are twenty-five election highlights from NBC News, seven takeaways from Reuters, ten midterm takeaways from WaPo, and 4 key takeaways from the NYT. (Maybe the big winner of the night was the word takeaways…)