There’s one thing that rich and poor have in common in the U.S. — they both tend to describe themselves as “middle class.”

That might reflect the nation’s historical egalitarian ethos – “all men are created equal,” the 19th century rise of democracy, the faith, however misplaced and vexed, that in the U.S., while everyone is not born filthy rich, everyone has the opportunity to become so.

Nevada academics wasted no time jumping into an election post mortem. The Brookings Institute held a post-election panel discussion Wednesday where they analyzed the previous night’s “blue wave,” in which Democrats claimed victory in almost all statewide races. Panelists included Brookings Mountain West Executive Director Robert Lang, UNLV political science professor David Damore, Brookings fellow John Hudak and Women’s Research Institute of Nevada Director Rebecca Gill.

Nevada academics wasted no time jumping into an election post mortem. The Brookings Institute held a post-election panel discussion Wednesday where they analyzed the previous night’s “blue wave,” in which Democrats claimed victory in almost all statewide races. Panelists included Brookings Mountain West Executive Director Robert Lang, UNLV political science professor David Damore, Brookings fellow John Hudak and Women’s Research Institute of Nevada Director Rebecca Gill.

Nevada academics wasted no time jumping into an election post mortem. The Brookings Institute held a post-election panel discussion Wednesday where they analyzed the previous night’s “blue wave,” in which Democrats claimed victory in almost all statewide races. Panelists included Brookings Mountain West Executive Director Robert Lang, UNLV political science professor David Damore, Brookings fellow John Hudak and Women’s Research Institute of Nevada Director Rebecca Gill.

Incumbent Dean Heller issued a challenge to state Republicans during his concession speech to Jacky Rosen, who defeated him Tuesday in their race for U.S. Senate. “As a party,” he said, “we’re going to have to come together and decide how we’re going to go forward in the future.”

Nevada academics wasted no time jumping into an election post mortem. The Brookings Institute held a post-election panel discussion Wednesday where they analyzed the previous night’s “blue wave,” in which Democrats claimed victory in almost all statewide races. Panelists included Brookings Mountain West Executive Director Robert Lang, UNLV political science professor David Damore, Brookings fellow John Hudak and Women’s Research Institute of Nevada Director Rebecca Gill.

Marlina Delgado had never voted in a midterm election until Tuesday, nor had she been a party-line voter in presidential elections. In 2016, for instance, she was leaning toward Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio until Donald Trump won the nomination. But this year was different.

A country’s leader must provide security by economic and representational means to all its people, so that the insecurities of a faction do not manifest into acts of hate, violence and oppression against others.

Behind the daily headlines of our turbulent political climate is a stark, hard fact: the American middle class is hurting. Household incomes for the middle 60 percent of the distribution are rising, but painfully slowly, and primarily due to more work (including longer hours) rather than better wages.

There are just five days left until voters hit the polls next Tuesday for the mid-term elections. The silver state is set to play a big part in the balance of power on capitol hill.

There are just five days left until voters hit the polls next Tuesday for the mid-term elections. The silver state is set to play a big part in the balance of power on capitol hill.

CBS News' "Red & Blue" visited Las Vegas and UNLV to cover the 2018 election. The show aired live from UNLV's campus and featured interviews with UNLV faculty and students.