On Election Day 2017, voters came out in force to support a diverse and progressive slate of candidates in Virginia and beyond. But last Tuesday should not be viewed as some overarching Democratic Party step toward unity. What happened is more nuanced. It was a referendum on anger and anxiety mixed with frustration. It was voters telling their politicians there is a desire for them to spend more time creating a more perfect union. That is where the Democrats need to go.

I strongly believe that the people are always ahead of the politicians. That maxim was on full display in Virginia, as voters clearly said, “Hold on — that’s enough.” Virginians overwhelmingly rejected the nation’s divisive political status quo.

Those previously denied the right to vote — either by race or gender — went to the polls to show that they matter. They, rightfully, expect results meaningful to them. We must do more than fight for things that many considered already to have been won.

From our nation’s founding, Americans have been on an incessant quest in search of ourselves. When Barack Obama shattered the conventional political wisdom by winning national elections in 2008 and 2012, some saw it as an aberration, rather than a fulfillment of, the American Dream. His election prompted the Senate Republican leader to proclaim it his mission and obligation to oppose the president’s success. Obama was called a liar in the House chamber as he was delivering a national address.

Those previously denied the right to vote — either by race or gender — went to the polls to show that they matter.

Those actions were unprecedented — yet went unreprimanded. They unleashed a set of unforeseen consequences — one of which was to cause many Republicans to regard Obama as the enemy, giving rise to racial outcry, justified or not. Before President Donald Trump won the White House, he embarked further down that path — using coded rhetoric designed to rend the nation.

Those circumstances have created an atmosphere that many feel has been absent from the White House since President Woodrow Wilson essentially re-segregated the federal government.

Continued fault-finding by Democratic or Republican leaders won’t fix anything. Bellicose talk from the White House will not change anything concerning world affairs — or any affairs.

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I know Virginia well. I have spent the entirety of my life as a citizen thereof. I know where we have been and how far we have come.

The huge turnout in Virginia’s off-year election was a signal call beyond our borders. Justin Fairfax’s victory as lieutenant governor brought me almost as much joy as Deval Patrick’s 2007 election win in Massachusetts as the second African-American elected governor in the United States. One could be an aberration, more than that is reality — and a trend.