Name-brand Democrats are all over the map with their individual analyses of the Nov. 4 election outcome. While Americans are starving more than ever for that “change,” let’s implore that any “hope” will not be in vain.

As each day passes, it does not appear these same prominent Democrats get it.

President Obama spoke the day after the election, mouthing the words that his party was not successful and offering the usual “working together and reaching across the aisle” but also said he and his staff would continue with what they wanted to do before the election.

In other words, he intends to continue with business (or lack thereof) as usual.

According to the New York Times of Nov. 10, Obama urged his staff to ignore any criticism frequently hurled at them, along with a reminder that they are “overworked” and “picked on” – a claim he has made on his own behalf more than once. Obama then turned to criticizing the media with the “press cycle that often paid intense attention to crises around the world, but failed to take note when a crisis had passed.” In other words, “it’s not my fault.”

I wonder if some of those passing crises could be, in his mind, Benghazi, Veterans Affairs, IRS, FBI scandals, southern border breeches, Iraq war, Iranian nuclear weapons, Syria, Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Pakistan warring, or?

Obama, on his own behalf, remains in his usual state of ambiguity.

Oct. 2, he gave a speech saying, “I’m not on the ballot this fall. … But make no mistake, these policies are on the ballot. Every single one of them.” Nov. 9, he said that his policies were not on the ballot.

Just days before the election, the head of the Democratic National Committee, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said, “I’m very proud of this president. … I think we’re going to win the Senate.” The usually crass Wasserman Schultz has not surfaced since the election.

Democratic strategist Donna Brazile wrote that the voting was about “Obama’s leadership and policies,” then tried putting lipstick on the pig by stating that while Republicans prevailed, voting for Democratic themes was successful.

For example, Brazile boasted that five states voted on minimum-wage increases, and four of them are heavily red states. As is typical, she omitted stating the numbers. The four states, Arkansas, Nebraska, Alaska and South Dakota, had per-hour minimum wages of $6.25 to $7.75, and by 2016 and 2017, they’ll increase to a range of $8.50 to $9.75.

The minimum-wage matter as stated by Brazile is a pretty weak argument, considering the flogging her party took at the polls.

Sen. Harry Reid was conspicuously absent after the election until two days ago when he spoke before Congress and said, “Senate Democrats are ready to work in good faith win their Republican counterparts.” That’s curious — now he’s ready. What about the last six years? Reid is the one who pushed the “nuclear option” to block Republicans out of the country’s decision-making process.

Lastly, there is Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who told Politico, “I do not believe what happened the other night is a wave.” Further, “There was no wave of approval for the Republicans. I wish them congratulations, they won the election, but there was no wave of approval for anybody. There was an ebbing, an ebb tide, for us.”

With that insight, perhaps Pelosi and Obama are on the same page, at least for a moment. In June 2008, the campaigning Obama spoke of the rising ocean (that he would ordain as president-elect) and again in 2013 with his speech on rising tides lifting boats.

Just days after Obama took office, Jan. 23, 2009, a meeting took place at the White House with congressional leaders to discuss Obama’s upcoming stimulus plan. Obama took a don’t-challenge-me stance and said, “I won.” At an Oct. 25, 2010, meeting, in response to some proposals by then-House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, Obama told the Republicans that “elections have consequences” and “I won.”

Consequences are exactly what elections are about.

In November 2014, the political landscape changed. The day after the election, President Obama said, “So, to everyone who voted, I want you to know that I hear you.” He followed with “working together for the next two years to advance America’s business.”

Do we dare hope for that change?

Betty Arenson has lived in the SCV since 1968 and describes herself as a conservative who’s concerned about progressives’ politics and their impacts on the country, her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She says she is unashamed to own a gun or a Bible, couldn’t care less about the color of the president’s skin, and demands that he uphold his oath to protect and follow the Constitution of the United States in its entirety.