No one reasonable expected the Democrats to take the House in 2016. Senate, yes, but not the House.
As for OP's question, this would be a very favorable scenario IMO, but the media won't spin it as so. Those who aren't as knowledgeable of the insanely difficult map facing Democrats will see that as underperforming, when in actuality seeing no net change in the Senate would be pretty damn good.
Some of the Democrats did. It was not a smart move, but they did.
This is what happened in 2016. The Democrats gained seats in the House and the Senate. The Democratic nominee for president lost a very close election, but generally did within the MOE of the polls.
The expectation was of a Clinton landslide, the Democrats triumphantly taking the Senate and possibly the House. When that expectation was not met, most of the Democrats have reacted to this not very bad year as if the space ship from
Independence Day just blasted the White House.
Right now, there is the expectation of a "blue wave." If that isn't big
enough, it will still be a disappointment.
If the Democrats won the House with 223 seats, it would be a very clear win. The wave would be regarded as a ripple. If the Democrats lost two seats in Senate, it would be
perceived as a disaster.
