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Boil the pot too fast and t= he frogs feel the heat. That's what voters in California, where Prop = 50 passed; in New Jersey, where they elected Mikie Sherill Governor; in Geo= rgia where a swath of mayoral races flipped to blue; in New York where a yo= ung democratic socialist mayor will now run the city; in Virginia, which is= now a blue state, led by Governor Abigail Spanberger; in Maine, where vote= rs refused to give up their right to early voting; and in Colorado, where v= oters funded free lunch programs with taxes on the wealthy, understood Tues= day night.
This president, as difficult as it is to process= that this could actually be the case for any president, does not have the = country's best interests at heart. Those of us who've been payi= ng careful attention all along have understood that for some time. Now, jus= t enough of the country seems to be catching up.
The frogs hopped out of the pot in Portland, and= they've refused to go back. This not-even-midterms election was an u= nlikely catalyst for Americans who believe in democracy to come together an= d feel like it's possible, despite this administration's postur= ing, toe keep the Republic. It was a referendum on Donald Trump. And he kn= ew it.
Could the tremendous turnout, the tenacity it took to wait in line= s, the youth engagement-all of it-possibly mean that the fever dream is abo= ut to break?
In my book, I wrote about an inst= ructive moment in American history:
In the 1950s, under McCarthyism and the "Red Scare," peo= ple were afraid to push back against the bully, Senator Joseph McCarthy, wh= ose aggressive and frequently baseless accusations against people he didn&#= 8217;t like ruined lives in government, entertainment, and academia. McCart= hy called people communist traitors despite the absence of any evidence tha= t they were either. He used public hearings and fear to consolidate power.<= /p>
For a time, people didn't stand up.= They were afraid of being labeled communists themselves if they did. The m= edia, for the most part, repeated McCarthy's claims, and very few pol= iticians of the day were willing to challenge his tactics, thinking only of= self-preservation. Even President Dwight D. Eisenhower avoided confrontati= on with him until the end. McCarthy destroyed careers. Had he been given fr= ee rein for much longer, he would have destroyed the First Amendment too. H= e damaged it deeply while he remained in power. An atmosphere of fear preva= iled in America. McCarthy's power grew because of silence and self-pr= eservation. It only came to an end when others finally said "enough.&= #8221; It didn't take an army or a rebellion. It took American common= sense and persistence.
Early in 1954, Mc= Carthy asked for preferential treatment for an aide on his subcommittee who= was drafted. Apparently unhappy with how the situation was handled, McCart= hy decided to go after the army with an allegation that security at a top s= ecret facility was inadequate. There were three months of nationally televi= sed hearings.
Senate records tell the sto= ry of how it ended: "The army hired Boston lawyer Joseph Welch to mak= e its case. At a session on June 9, 1954, McCarthy charged that one of Welc= h's attorneys had ties to a Communist organization. As an amazed tele= vision audience looked on, Welch responded with the immortal lines that ult= imately ended McCarthy's career: 'Until this moment, Senator, I= think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness.' When= McCarthy tried to continue his attack, Welch angrily interrupted, 'L= et us not assassinate this lad further, senator. You have done enough. Have= you no sense of decency?'"
S= uddenly, it was over. Seemingly overnight, McCarthy's hold on the cou= ntry began to dissipate. His Senate colleagues and his party abandoned him;= the media stopped parroting his accusations. Three years later, he was dea= d. Americans don't have to give in to the bully. As with McCarthy, so= metimes it just takes one courageous moment to show the public a tyrantR= 17;s absurdity, his malice, and to consign him to history as a second lost = cause in the American story.
With bullies= , people have often had enough long before they are ready to admit it. With= an arbitrary tyrant, they are often afraid to. Maybe we are headed for a p= ublic moment like the one that felled Senator McCarthy. Whether or not we a= re, the ultimate way to challenge the bully is at the ballot box. In 2026, = every seat in the House of Representatives will be on the ballot, as will t= hirty-three seats in the Senate. If you want to ask Trump "Have you n= o sense of decency?" make him face Democratic majorities in both bodi= es of Congress
When I wrote those words back i= n February of this year, I had no way of knowing where the country would be= in October when it was published. It is undeniably a moment for optimism a= fter Tuesday night. Could we finally be about to have a McCarthy moment? Th= is election was a good start, and it gives us the momentum we need to begin= to prepare for the next one, the one where we reshape the Congress into a = functioning body, willing to fulfill its constitutional duties.
The truth is, Trump is just a man. He is not specially anointed. He is= not a political or a policy genius. He alone cannot do it. His success is = not inevitable. Tuesday showed us we have a path forward if we're wil= ling to walk it.
We're in this together,
Joyce
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© 2025 Joyce Vance
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