For the last several weeks, the media and political pundits have been touting August 7th as the beginning of the “blue wave” that would signal the beginning of the end of President Trump’s time in office. We’ve seen headlines pointing out that record number of women running for Congress and for governorships around the country. We’ve been saddled with story after story about democratic-socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her latest episode of “foot in mouth” disease. All of which was part of the Democrats’ plan to retake Congress and then the White House. But it all began last night.

Or did it?

The election to watch was Ohio’s special election to replace Representative Pat Tiberi in the 12th District. Tiberi resigned from office to move into the private sector. Republican Troy Balderson faced off against Democrat Danny O’Connor and Green candidate Joe Manchik in the special election. Seven Ohio counties. Approximately 201,000 votes cast.And the winner is, with 100% of the ballots counted. . .

Republican Troy Balderson, except most everyone is saying the election “too close to call”.

It was a close race, as expected. Because of that, don’t expect to hear the Dems lamenting the loss. On no. I can hear them now celebrating the fact they came so close to taking down a Trump-endorsed candidate. Or, perhaps, they will follow the lead of that oh-so-special Hollywood personality (I can’t call her a celebrity, much less a star) Alyssa Milano.

You know what sucks?

Because of our unwillingness to pass policy that protects our election integrity, I immediately think the Green Party votes tonight are Russian meddling.

Why else would anyone cast a protest vote in Ohio when there’s so much at stake?#OH12

— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) August 8, 2018

Does that mean she thinks any votes cast for Jill Stein in the previous presidential election — or in any future elections for that matter — are Russian meddling? Man, does she have her paid security check under her bed and sweep for bugs every day lest those darned Russians decide to come get her for trying to expose their nefarious dealings? VBEG

Or they can be like NBC News and refuse to admit defeat, praying the provisional ballots are enough to swing the vote their way in a week or so.

UPDATE: @NBCNews: #OH12 race remains too close to call due to current vote count and provisional ballots that still need to be counted.

Provisional ballots will be counted within the next 10 days.

The vote then must be certified by Aug. 24.

— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) August 8, 2018

CBS News’ Elections and Surveys Director Anthony Salvanto, however, pointed out that no single election yesterday should be considered “bellwether” for the upcoming November elections. Well, that’s one way of making sure you keep your liberal viewers happy. Don’t rub their noses in their loss and don’t make the conservatives think they need to work a bit harder to insure the liberals don’t retake Congress.

Kansas was another state with hotly contested races. Let’s just say, looking at the vote tallies, for there to be a Blue Wave that is supposed to crush the Trump Administration, it certainly didn’t show up in Kansas yesterday. More than twice as many people voted in the Republican primary for governor than they did in the Democratic primary. Two U. S. House districts didn’t even have Democratic candidates on the ballot. (And ain’t that a heck of a way to win back the House?)

In the District 4 race, Republicans once again far outdistanced their Democratic counterparts when it came to number of votes cast. Even with Ocasio-Cortez campaigning for James Thompson (who did win the primary), Dems cast only 30,100 votes to the 69,400 votes cast by Republicans. November will see Thompson squaring off against the incumbent, Ron Estes. Don’t look for Estes to lose his seat.

New Jersey’s primaries were a bit more interesting. Dems once again voted to send incumbent Robert Menendez back to the Senate, despite his corruption trial (which ended in a mistrial). He’ll face off against Republican Bob Hugin in November. Chances are Menendez will retain his seat — except there are signs the race against Hugin is going to become more than a bit bumpy. Here’s hoping.

In Michigan, Abdul El-Seyed, the candidate for governor backed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, lost and lost big to Gretchen Whitmer. She’ll face off against Republican Bill Schuette in November. By the way, more Republicans voted in the primary than Dems.

Over 900,000 votes were cast in the Republican senatorial primary, sending John James against Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow. The sitting Senator had better be ready for a fightl

“I don’t have a Black message. I don’t have a White message. I have a Michigan message,” James said. “We need people who have experience getting results. You aren’t going to get results from a 43-year career politician.”

At last check, there were no real surprises in the Missouri or Washington primaries. Yes, a few of those candidates President Trump stumped for didn’t win or are in races too close to call right now. However, that does not a blue wave make. It simply means the Republican Party is made up of voters who look at the candidate and the issues and make up their own minds instead of voting for who they’re told to back.

As Salvanto said, no one election yesterday was bellwether for November. However, one thing is clear. The so-called Blue Wave is not pounding the doors of Capitol Hill, at least not yet. It is up to each of us, as voters, to vote our consciences and our hearts and, if we do, that wave will become a trickle, soon forgotten.