Don Lemon had Charlie Dent and Jason Kander on to talk about last night's election results, and it was gratifying.
"Congressman, I'm going to start with you, there's a lot of spin going on tonight. Give me the lowdown," Lemon said. "This is a tough environment, what kind of result are we getting, do you think, and is this why you didn't seek re-election?"
Dent said he didn't want to spoil "a perfect record."
"The main reason I -- this election tonight, Balderson (OH-3) appears to be winning and he'll likely win. This race should not have been a contest," Dent said.
"We've seen six special elections, where safe Republican seats, where Republican candidates have significantly underperformed with the exception of Georgia, significant underperformance, so if i'm a Republican and in a marginal swing district right now, I'm very concerned.
"Just like Conor Lamb won -- and he won by 1,000 votes-- had he lost by 1,000 votes, I'd still be concerned. It's clear that the energy and intensity is on the Democratic side. This election was a referendum on President Trump and his conduct in office. And that is continuing to snowball as we move forward. I just had dinner with Governor Kasich, this is a good night for him. both candidates were using him, in their ads, he said this should not have been contested."
"He held this seat. Pat Teaberry held it before him, this shouldn't be a contest. This is a moral victory for Democrats, no matter how you slice it, do you agree with that?" Lemon asked Kander -- who responded by giving the best possible advice on winning elections.
"Look, this seat's been Republican since 1982. I was born in 1981. So I mean, and I'm here talking about this -- my point is, we got some mojo," Kander said.
"I don't know if it's a moral victory or whatever. But we have a lot of momentum and it comes from us going out there. Passion is persuasive, we're out there, whether it's me running for mayor in Kansas City. Whether it's folks running in Ohio or anywhere else. We're out there saying, 'This is what we believe in, we're making our argument, and if you can get outside your comfort zone, you can make a lot of change. That's what our party is finally doing."
Lemon asked how much of this is a test to see if Democratic candidates can win over voters in more moderate red congressional districts.
"See, it's not a matter of moderate or conservative or anything like that. The blue wave is not a weather event. (GOT THAT, BOYS AND GIRLS? IT'S NOT A WEATHER EVENT!) It's not like your meteorologist comes on TV and says, moderate this, and progressive this, and it's going to mix together -- it ain't how it works. It is getting out like we've been doing in Missouri, getting out, bringing -- getting out, knocking on doors, you make a wave happen. It's not just voters getting so angry that they come out to vote.
"It's people go out and ask their neighbors to show up and vote."
...
