So, who won?

I say potentially everyone except the progressive left looking for a mandate to extricate the president from office. That possibility just can't happen now. The Democrats needed a "blue wave" but instead were only able to muster a gentle "spritz.”

As for Donald Trump, the president succeeded with his primary mission for this mid-term election – to add Republican seats in the Senate and to increase conservatism in the judicial branch. He accomplished both.

The president kept the dominant Republican power in the Senate by sheer will and campaigning. That was Trump's mandate and the people responded – big time.  Winning the Senate was a Trump victory because it now assures all of Trump's future judicial nominations to the Supreme Court, as well as the hundreds of conservative federal judges who are still waiting in line for confirmation.  

Flash: This country has officially gone judicially conservative. That’s huge. Anything else Trump might need, should the Democrat's fail to agree, will be done with an executive order, bypassing the Democrats in the House altogether, the same MO President Obama practiced when he faced a Republican majority in the House. NBD.

Winning the House for the Democrats is not necessarily the best thing for them either if they still want to take down the president of the United States. Now, they have to put up or shut up. To accomplish impeachment, the Democrats had to have won the Senate as well in order to do any damage to the POTUS. If they go after him now, they will be torched because they have no power to follow through with anything short of open treason.

Therefore, impeachment will never happen.

To impeach a sitting president, the Democrats would have to go through both the Senate and the Supreme Court, which Trump now securely has on his side. This is the Democrats’ Achille’s heel. Trump has the power and wherewithal to eviscerate his detractors if they try. So why even try?  Good question.

Be careful what you wish for.

If the Democrats decide they want to turn over investigatory rocks now that they have the power to do so, they would ultimately have to do it in the bright light of day. They would have to present both sides of any investigation, which would unveil “all” the details – not only of the accused but also of the accusers.

To investigate Donald Trump would necessitate corroborative investigations of Hillary, Obama and Obama's deep state cronies, as well. People would undoubtedly demand a complete investigation of the entire 2016 election and that would be political suicide for the Democrats.

The Democrats would be going after the best presidential counterpuncher of all time. Do they really want that? And how long will they survive if they keep their "fact-finding" out there in the open air? Two years maybe? 2020, when it all goes back to the voting booth where their names appear – yet again.

The Democrats will become victims by their own hand if they go after Trump. Period.

So potentially everyone wins if the proverbial hatchet is buried with regard to the 2016 election. That Democrat folly is gone and the mid-terms are also gone. The Democrats in the House now have an opportunity to actually accomplish some good things for the people by working with the majority in the Senate – the majority in the executive branch, the majority of governors across the nation and the majority in the Supreme Court and the majority in Judicial branch – all Republican-held.

Simply put, the Democrats have a chance to show what they're worth. I say that's a good thing. Do they take narrowly winning the House as a mandate to expose their ill-will toward Trump, or do they actually come to the table to negotiate sound domestic policy with their colleagues?  

But if the Democrats continue to focus just on taking down the president, he will expose them mercilessly. There is still no "there-there" and to keep pushing frivolous investigations of the president with no possibility of a success for the Democrats would be suicidal for them in 2020.

Let's see what the Democrats bring to the table besides a blue spritzer bottle.

Victor Pisano lives in Richmond Hill.