Sanity prevailed. Most Democrats came to see that it would do nothing for their cause to gain another million progressives on the coasts if they still lost 80,000 people in the old industrial heartland. The key, as extolled by the eventual winner, was to rebuild the Obama coalition.

At the center of that legion of decency were women, wondering aloud why the United States was one of the few nations on earth without paid family leave for new mothers. They led by example. As Senator Amy Klobuchar said on that debate night: “If you think a woman can’t beat Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi does it every single day.”

Because the winner took these lessons to heart, because there was no denying the facts of Trump’s deep corruption and dereliction of duty, because every midnight of the American soul has been followed by a dawn, the outcome on this election night was never in doubt.