We Broke the Fever; Now It’s Time to Heal the Patient

One of the best commentaries about the election was by David Remnick in the New Yorker. He says simply, “The most consequential result of the midterms has been to break the fever of Trumpism and to diminish its threat to democratic institutions, to personal and civil liberties, and to decency itself. … The election was also a vindication for those who had refused to submit. We are all too familiar by now with the many politicians, law partners, billionaires, C.E.O.s, university presidents, and others who cowered before Trump. Part of the reason we will survive the Trump era is that many more did their work honorably. Judges, civil-rights lawyers, academics, election officials, curators, artists, and countless ordinary citizens stood up. Their resistance to Trump’s bullying, corruption, and heartlessness has gained new political force.”

That’s us, Lexington Alarm!, who refused to accept a slide towards authoritarianism that our leaders, our major institutions, and our businesses all decided they could live with when Trump took office and looked all-powerful in January 2025.

This month Democrats won both houses of Congress by the biggest majorities since Watergate. Nine of the 10 most populous states will have Democratic governors, and in Florida, the one holdout, Democratic candidate David Jolly came within 1.3% of winning. The geography shifted with Democrats no longer confined to the coasts and upper Midwest. The strength of the new Senate majority was built on wins in Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Ohio, North and South Carolina, and yes, Alaska and Mississippi, where Mary Peltola and Scott Colom are poised to win when results are certified.

Trump’s movement was a racist movement, and most institutions rolled over when he attacked the very basis of D.E.I., even trying to erase any history of slavery from the U.S. They could not run away from the memory of George Floyd fast enough.

We destroyed that. Americans chose the first Muslim senator, in Michigan, the first Black female governor in Georgia, the first Latino governors in Texas and California, the first Native American governor in New Mexico, and Minnesota sent the first Native American woman to the Senate while New Hampshire sent the first gay male senator.

In Georgia, Black women won all 8 statewide races, from governor to various commissioners, along with secretary of state and lieutenant governor. And a Black woman will become Speaker of the Georgia House, which flipped to Democrats.

Younger voters and infrequent voters came out in huge numbers, overwhelmingly voting Democratic. And around 45% of these voters are non-white. This is the real America.
The importance of framing the election as the complete rejection of Trumpism and its fascist and racist ideology is that people voted for a different politics. This is not defined by ideology.
People voted for decency, compassion, economic justice, and to stamp out corruption in both parties. The idea that billionaires and trillionaires have special access and entitlement to override the political voice of ordinary people got creamed.

Elon thought Texas could be run by an oligarch. And Texans said hell no.
This election was about integrity, and the deepest corruption in American politics is the kind that’s perfectly legal. Since Citizens United, corporations and the very rich can spend without limit to put their favored candidates in office and keep them there. Nobody has to hand over a bribe. The money comes first, and the votes follow. Trump just made this pay-to-play connection for pardons and favors blindingly obvious.

The new senators understand this. Eight of them won without taking a dime from corporate PACs: James Talarico, Annie Andrews, Abdul El-Sayed, Peggy Flanagan, Josh Turek, Troy Jackson, Mary Peltola in Alaska and Scott Colom in Mississippi. They join Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey, Cory Booker and the other senators who made that choice years ago. They owe nothing to the people who have bought our politics, and that freedom is exactly what lets them fight.

That is the test for anyone who wants to lead. Our current leaders came up in the old system. Hakeem Jeffries took $1.26 million from corporate PACs this cycle and our own Katherine Clark $1.16 million. The question is not where they came from. It is whether they will let their own dependence on that money stand in the way of what the voters just demanded: overturning Citizens United, banning corporate PACs, and ending the ownership of elected officials by the wealthy.

We cannot fight corruption with leaders beholden to the donor class. To keep their leadership, they must repudiate it and put the full weight of their office behind reforms. Anything less will push voters, particularly younger voters, back into the “plague on both your houses” mindset that allowed Trumpism to flourish. That would be criminal for Democrats who are tasked with changing the direction of the country.

All our substantive fights and discussions are ahead: Medicare For All, dismantling of the DHS and ICE for terrorizing Americans rather than keeping them safe, the capitulation at all levels of government to the tech monopolies and AI buildout, ending tariffs, rebuilding the Department of Justice and limiting the power of the presidency.

We don’t need to litigate these yet. Instead, we need to consolidate democratic power for a generation by refusing to accept business as usual. This is doubly important in the Senate and House. All Senate rules, from the filibuster on down, should be on the table if they obstruct change. Nothing could be more deadly to the hope and courage shown by millions of Americans than a weak Senate and House leadership that plays small ball; that refuses to articulate a new vision; that accepts the current status quo of lobbyists, money and power and protects their own individual interests.

In recognition of this imperative, many newly elected Democrats are calling for the replacement of Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries. I don’t know if we need that. We don’t need to start our people’s Congress with internal fights. But we need our leaders to go big, to put everything on the table. That means passing bills Trump will veto. He will be swept away in two years if we remain true to the voters who elected us. That means articulating our vision, regardless of whether we can force it on Trump. We need our leaders to address the cost of living and be willing to tax billionaires and to do all the things that help people survive in a period where unfettered financial power would toss them to the curb to starve.

For me the question is open. Are our leaders up to the task? I look forward to the new caucus holding their feet to the fire and proving the answer one way or another.