The stunning results of last week’s midterm elections hold important lessons for both parties. They should stop crowing and crying and start facing up to them.

Shortly after the Republicans suffered historic losses, Vice President JD Vance issued a postmortem blaming Iran, inflation and Israel. He neglected to mention how much his own administration had worsened all these matters — to say nothing of its alleged corruption, which voters ranked as a top issue.

For Republicans in Congress, the first order of business should be leveling with a lame-duck White House. Many of them have spent the past two years publicly defending policies and activities that, privately, they chafe at. This includes starting two misguided wars — one over global trade, the other with Iran — and engaging in a variety of ethically dubious conduct. Polls indicated that voters objected strongly to all of the above.

To turn their fortunes around, Republicans need to summon more courage to speak their minds. They also need to work with their opponents to advance a policy agenda that responds to voters’ legitimate frustrations. Curtailing the president’s costly tariffs, passing a permitting reform bill and agreeing to a bipartisan deficit-reduction commission would all help where voters say they’re hurting most: their wallets.

Finally, Republicans need to get serious about blocking kooks and extremists from hijacking party primaries. One reason they did so poorly last week was that they nominated a slate of weak or fringe candidates for numerous previously safe seats, including in Texas and South Carolina. In an election where corruption was a top concern, Ken Paxton was unlikely to prevail.

For Democrats, the lessons should be just as clear-cut. Rather than nominating firebrand ideologues, the party recruited numerous moderates with track records outside of politics, including in medicine, ministry, the military and even music. Rob Sand, Iowa’s governor-elect, has served as the state auditor and ran on a platform of fiscal responsibility and government accountability. Scott Colom, the Senate nominee in Mississippi — currently in the lead, with ballots still being counted — is a district attorney who highlighted his crime-fighting credentials.

Most of the Senate seats Democrats flipped — Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas — were won by moderates who distanced themselves from the progressive left and touted their centrist credentials, including their desire to work with Republicans. “Compromise is one of my values,” said James Talarico, who won by an astounding 12 points in Texas. Successful Democrats in other Southern states struck similar notes.

In the months ahead, the party’s progressive wing will press House and Senate leaders to embrace its policy agenda, even though it has no chance of becoming law, since it can’t overcome the filibuster or presidential vetoes. Going down that road would be a mistake that ends in gridlock.

Similarly, Democrats have vowed to investigate the president, his family and members of his administration over corruption allegations and other misconduct. Those efforts shouldn’t obscure the need for a serious policy agenda. The party’s best bet is to focus on achievable reforms while showing voters in traditionally Republican states that they can govern from the center and deliver results.

As Talarico put it, “Texans voted for change last night — not necessarily for one party over the other.” That’s a lesson both parties should take to heart.

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