The expected blue wave that most major news outlets were predicting never materialized, once again making the national media and pollsters the biggest losers in last week’s elections.

With a favorable print and social media doing much of their campaign bidding and with nearly all Democratic incumbents outspending their GOP challengers by big margins, most Democrats were confident they could flip everything blue, sweeping through the presidency, Senate, House, and on down to state and local races.

From billionaire Democrats like Michael Bloomberg, who dumped millions into last week’s election, we learned once again that money can’t buy you votes.

The vast majority of polls leading up to Tuesday’s presidential election showed Joe Biden ahead in almost every battleground state, and most election pundits were predicting Democratic gains of up to 15 House seats. Even many Republicans went into Election Day bracing for losses.

But buoyed by an unexpectedly strong performance by President Donald Trump in key battleground states, Republicans were able to unseat several incumbents and close the gap of the Democrats’ House majority. Many Democrats were panicking after a number of Hispanic Florida districts swung heavily for Trump, giving him an early victory in Florida.

Susan Collins’ re-election win in Maine also destroyed the pollsters and election pundit predictions, and her win could be key in Republicans’ bid to retain a narrow control in the Senate.

Unfortunately for Republican conservatives, Libertarians and constitutionalists, all four members of the “squad” won their House seats and even added a few new members to the socialist wing of the Democratic Party. It will be interesting to see how Nancy Pelosi deals with the radical left and if the House speaker is even able to survive a leadership challenge.

Pelosi certainly has no big blue Election Day mandate to rally around.

In his analysis, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Democrats failed in their promise to govern differently as the majority party. The GOP also defied the odds by adding several women to their ranks, making the Republican coalition bigger, more diverse and more energized than ever before.

McCarthy said the election also proved that America does not want to be a socialist nation.

Two newly elected Republicans who will be fighting hard against the hard left socialists are Madison Cawthorn, who won the North Carolina House seat, and former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville, who won Alabama’s Senate race.

At age 25, Cawthorn will become the youngest member of the House, a position currently held by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the leading “squad” member.

During his speech at the Republican National Convention in August, Cawthorn touched on his age and the 2014 car accident that left him partially paralyzed.

“If you don’t think young people can change the world, then you just don’t know American history,” he said.

Tuberville won Alabama’s Senate race after his campaign focused mostly on social conservative issues, particularly abortion. A proud Donald Trump supporter, the former coach credited the president for getting the economy back on track and putting Americans first.

Tuberville has also spoken about his love for our military men and women and credits his father, a hero of the D-Day battle in World War II, for laying that foundation of respect for all those in uniform protecting our freedoms. Although Tuberville calls the ideas and policies of Ocasio-Cortez’ “ridiculous,” he said he respects the New York congresswoman for the way she fought and commanded attention as a congressional newcomer.

Tuberville has promised to fight just as forcefully for conservative, Christian values.

Patriots like Cawthorn serving in the U.S. House and Tuberville in the Senate give conservatives a renewed hope that there will be representatives in Washington who will be strong defenders of our Constitution.

By Jim Zbick | tneditor@tnonline.com