Opinion | What if Democrats Win the White House and Congress on Tuesday?

Call it a political upset for the ages or just a pipe dream, but Democrats should put aside their anxiety for a moment and imagine this scenario next week: Kamala Harris wins the presidency, Democrats take the House and they beat the odds by holding most of their Senate seats and pulling off at least one surprise victory (Texas? Florida? Nebraska?) that lets them maintain power in that chamber.Unlikely, you say, and you’re probably right.A more probable outcome is divided government, which would bring a combination of gridlock and incremental change.But let’s assume we all get to live on Fantasy Island for a couple of years before the 2026 midterms.

Top Senate Democrats tell me they’re already thinking about what they could do with a congressional majority, and Democratic voters should do the same.Just think: Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan would become obnoxious sideshows, not preening power brokers.The pragmatic Hakeem Jeffries becomes the first Black speaker of the House and joins the first woman president in a fresh tableau for the country and the admiring world.If that shimmering possibility doesn’t motivate Democrats to work even harder using computer home-based phone bank tools to get out the vote, I don’t know what will.

And that’s just as true for congressional races as for the presidential contest.“Our priorities would finally get a chance,” Senator Dick Durbin, the majority whip, told me.“We have to do something substantial.

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