Or at least I hope it is.

The voting is over; most of the counting is, as well. The forebodingly dark commercials, texts, calls, yard signs, door knocking, fund-raising --- all of it is over.

My happiness over the primary election results has almost nothing to do with partisan politics.

Instead, it has almost everything to do with what appears to be the public rejection of cruelty, crassness, division, demonization of others and the willingness to use political power to hurt human beings.

What a different landscape it would be if we had a Republican party that stood on conservative principles and governed with integrity, humility and compassion. If that were the case, even more liberal-leaning folks like me might have taken a look.

Instead, we have put up with almost a decade of a descent into a kind of public cruelty that is so rampant it barely shocks us anymore.

We have put up with international policy that is haphazard at best and incoherent at worst. We have betrayed our closest allies. We have used tariffs as tools of childish retribution, hurting ourselves in the process.

We cut off life-saving international aid with no notice and, seemingly, no remorse.

We have watched marginalized groups be demonized for kicks.

We have watched hardworking folks lose healthcare and food assistance and jobs.

We have enriched the already rich and made the lives of the poor poorer.

We have treated immigrants like garbage, rather than with the dignity they deserve as human beings. We have terrorized people --- arresting, deporting and murdering them on the streets instead of using the power of the government to create a sane and humane immigration policy.

We have listened to politicians and leaders at the highest level demean women with language unfit for public consumption, not to mention policies that set women back decades. We have watched our leaders protect abusers and pedophiles with no consequence.

We have watched rural hospitals close, food banks beg for public support, farmers go belly-up, gas prices soar, senseless wars bankrupt our national coffers, and the national debt explode through the roof. Inflation is up, not down.

And most sadly to me, we have watched a large part of the American church give itself over to a sort of nationalism that would cause Jesus himself to turn over in his grave --- if Jesus were actually in a grave. It's time we remember that it is our government's job to protect freedom of religion, not mandate one religion through force and law.

We have watched one political party allow a full takeover of itself by an unprincipled man intent on enriching himself and his family while using his time, energy and money on vanity projects no one asked for. Things might have been different if we had watched two functional political parties debate policy and to then find ways to work together for the public good.

So, it's time. It's actually past time.

It's time for our government to work for the people. To listen to us, to see us, to hear us, to do our bidding.

It's time for elected officials to be held accountable for self-enrichment and self-dealing.

It's time for Republicans, Democrats, Independents and everyone in between to work together --- to compromise and collaborate -- for the sake of the people of this nation, and beyond. It's time for both parties to nominate and elect public servants who are servants first and foremost.

The midterm election results were resounding.

And I am happy not solely because the party I affiliate with won, but because it appears the American people are demanding the government we put in power, whose salaries we pay with our hard-earned tax dollars, work for us --- ALL OF US --- rather than for an elite or select few.

It's time -- Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, Democratic Socialists. Americans, all.

It's morning in America ...

Or at least I hope it is.