It’s been a long night and there are still ballots to be counted. Fortunately, the projected blue wave wasn’t nearly as powerful as the Democrats wanted or the media predicted. Yes, we lost the House. But we held onto the Senate. Something Democrats won’t be talking about is that those incumbents in so-called toss-up races who opposed Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation lost. One of the biggest losers of them all had to be Beto O’Rourke. Skateboarding “Beto” was clearly the the darling of not only the DNC but Hollywood as well. They threw everything they had behind him. Despite it all, it wasn’t enough to unseat Ted Cruz and Texas extended its over 20-year streak of not electing a Democrat to statewide office.

I’ll admit, it was a long and often anxious evening as the results started coming in. The first results were disheartening. Not only did O’Rourke have the lead, he had a substantial one. At one point, he was several hundred thousand votes ahead of Cruz. The media gleefully reported, with only 1% of the vote in, that Texas would probably flip the seat to Democrat. Site after site, channel after channel, kept talking about the skateboarding boy wonder and how he looked to be about to topple Goliath.

But the funny thing was they weren’t mentioning where the votes were coming from. Yes, I knew they had to be the results from early voting. But from where? Was it from liberal Austin or conservative West Texas? The media would know. So I flipped to local coverage and, oddly enough, they weren’t saying either. Hmmm, something didn’t smell right. Why weren’t they telling us that little nugget of information?

Then, slowly but surely, more votes came in and the gap between O’Rourke and Cruz lessened. The atmosphere at the Cruz watch parties grew less tense and that at the O’Rourke ones grew more somber. Finally, with 20% of the vote counted, it became clear the early numbers had to come from the traditionally liberal parts of the state. Finally, and with no attempt to hide their disappointment, the media mavens began admitting their beloved Beto had lost. Shortly after 10 pm Central, Cruz made his victory speech. Approximately an hour after that, O’Rourke conceded.

“Tonight is a victory for the people of Texas,” Cruz said at the beginning of his speech. “This election was a battle of ideas. … The people of Texas rendered a verdict that we want a future with more jobs, and more security, and more freedom.”

Senator Cruz hit the proverbial nail on the head. Those concerns and the belief he would stand up for Texas is what helped him defeat “the best-financed and most popular Democrat to run in Texas in years.” This despite all the money poured into the O’Rourke campaign and all the support he received from the DNC and Hollywood. Speaking of which, let us enjoy some of their wails of woe now that their boy wonder has been defeated.

Proving she always has a firm grasp on reality–not–we have this from Alyssa Milano.

Beto lost? That’s ok. Now he can run for President. — Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) November 7, 2018

Then there’s Kathy Griffin, being classy as usual.

FUCK TED CRUZ — Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) November 7, 2018

Then you have Busy Phillips pushing two losers as the Democratic ticket in two years.

Beto/Gillum 2020. — Busy Philipps (@BusyPhilipps) November 7, 2018

And these are the people who think they should tell us who to vote for. Rich and privileged Hollywood elite who have forgotten what it’s like to be a working stiff–if they ever really knew.

But there is a harsh reality to last night’s vote we can’t forget. With 98% of the vote counted, Cruz carried the election with 4,221,738 votes compared to the 3,999,742 votes O’Rourke received. It’s a win and one we should savor. However, it should also act as a wake up call for every conservative, not just in Texas but across the nation. There were too many close races and too many races we lost. Sure, tradition has it that the mid-term elections see the President’s party loosing ground. In 2010, Republicans had their own red wave. In 2014, they again scored big wins in an Obama mid-term election. Certainly, after the contentious last two years, we should have been prepared for some losses. However, were these losses inevitable? How many folks simply sat at home, confident they didn’t need to get out to vote because early turn outs were so high and the media kept telling them that historically meant more conservatives were voting than liberals? How many felt sure they didn’t need to vote because Trump won so handily in the last election?

If you look at the county-by-county breakdown, something else becomes clear: O’Rourke played very well in the major metropolitan areas while Cruz held onto the rural vote. That is something else Republicans need to remember and work on during the next two years. A slip in support there and the night could have gone much, much worse.

It means we have a lot to build on and work on before the next election. But, for now, let’s savor the win and the fact Texas voters, as well as voters around the country, showed the DNC and Hollywood that they won’t be swayed by outside interests.

Rafael Cruz, Senator Cruz’s father, summed it up best:

You can’t buy Texas! That’s the message to Francis O’Rourke … The message to George Soros — you cannot buy Texas! The message to Chuck Schumer: You cannot buy Texas. … Take your money and go back to California. Take your money and go back to New York!”

Now let’s hold firm to our beliefs, hold our elected officials to their promises and, most of all, hold those same elected officials responsible for their actions. We lost some battles last night but we didn’t lose the war, despite everything the media would have us believe. So don’t give up. Keep fighting and keep forging ahead.

WELCOME Instapundit Readers!