Vibes aren’t enough.

From my perspective on election night at 10 here in Kansas, that’s the takeaway from a day of voting that didn’t produce much in the way of thundering progressive results in Kansas – or anywhere else, really. That might be the proverbial bitter pill, but sometimes we all need a dose of strong medicine.

Another term of Donald Trump as president? Likelier than not, from all indications. The Republican supermajority in the Kansas Legislature? Apparently still in place come January.

I wrote about a multitude of encouraging shifts and promising signs in Kansas over recent months. There were the PACs and educational groups boosting moderate Statehouse candidates. There was the 32,000-plus Facebook group supporting Kamala Harris. There was a spate of polling, including numbers showing Trump ahead by only five in Kansas and Harris up by three in Iowa, that suggested a broader realignment thanks to fired-up women.

All of these stories happened, of course. But if you don’t have the votes to support the vibes, those stories remain anecdotal. Regardless of your enthusiasm or that of your friends, the folks with the most votes win elections, and they’re the ones who will make the choices we have to live with over the next two to four years.

This column has come together without knowing the final results of all these races. Final tallies may take days to arrive.

But I think it’s worthwhile for all of those who follow politics or work somewhere in the spectrum of public affairs to recognize that our own personal morality doesn’t matter one iota when it comes to wielding political power.

The vibes the progressives clung to over the past few months – at least since Harris entered the presidential race – appear to be nothing more than vibes. Not just in Kansas, either. When a nation has fractured 50-50, winning takes ambitious strategy, relentless focus and a willingness to rethink your basic approach.

Perhaps one day that will change and a blue wave will sweep across the nation. But no such wave crested Tuesday.

At this point, I’m not drawing wider conclusions about the United States or Kansas. I will leave that to others with more time to process raw information into steaming hot takes.

I have two additional thoughts this evening.

One is that Kansans and voters across the United States have made their decisions. That’s how our representative democracy works. We will now see how those decisions play out. I hope, regardless of my personal beliefs about our leaders’ character or ideology, that they succeed in improving our state and nation.

Second, as I wrote on Monday, everyone’s lives continue. Everyone’s world continues. Those of us interested in making it a better place, in whatever way we can, should keep doing so. If that means speaking truth to those in power and making our voices heard, so be it. If that means taking care of ourselves and our families and our communities, so be it.

I’ll be here, writing these columns and editing this commentary section, because that’s what I know. See you soon.

Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, at https://kansasreflector.com/submit-opinion/.