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James C. McGuire Jr. lives in Waldoboro and is the author of “The American Crossroads Series” and “A White House for Both Sides.”
The midterm elections should put an end to the comfortable explanation that America is simply divided between Democrats and Republicans.
I see something bigger: We the people pushing back against a Republican leadership that has confused loyalty to Donald Trump with service to the country.
Democrats won control of Congress. Here in Maine, voters chose Troy Jackson over Susan Collins. Those results do not tell us what every voter was thinking. But they give us reason to challenge the idea that this was merely another turn in the usual party rivalry.
My reading is that people want their government back.
They want to afford groceries, heat their homes, see a doctor and grow old without wondering whether everything they worked for will slip away. They want elected officials who answer questions instead of changing the subject. They want someone to remember who pays the bills.
A party label does not fill an oil tank. A campaign slogan does not pay the rent. And telling people how wonderful the economy is does little for someone standing at the checkout counter deciding what to put back.
Here in Maine, we know what it means to work through a long winter and still worry about the next bill. We should not have to compete with wealthy donors for our own government’s attention. A person who cannot afford a campaign contribution still deserves a full voice in the decisions that shape a life.
When Republican leaders defend the president regardless of his conduct, I believe they deserve to be judged for that choice. Holding office comes with an obligation to exercise independent judgment. If your answer to every controversy is to protect the man at the top, who is protecting the people underneath?
That is why I see this election as we the people against the Republicans who have put party loyalty ahead of public responsibility.
Republican voters belong to we the people, too. So do independents, Democrats and people who have stopped trusting either party. Nobody surrenders ownership of this country by registering with a different party. The invitation to demand better is open to everyone.
And Democrats had better understand what that means.
Winning an election is an assignment. It is not a certificate of good character or permission to become comfortable with the same powerful interests voters wanted challenged.
If Democrats turn this moment into a revenge tour, I believe they will waste it. Investigate wrongdoing. Follow the evidence. Apply the law fairly. Then get to work on the problems families face every day. Accountability must have a purpose beyond giving the other side a taste of its own medicine.
The test now is whether the new majority uses its power to make government answer to those people. Hold public hearings. Demand honest answers. Show us where the money goes. Give citizens something they can measure beyond another round of speeches and fundraising emails.
I want a government that can explain whom a decision helps, what it costs and why it serves the public. I want officials willing to challenge their own donors and their own leaders. Those are reasonable expectations in a country that calls itself a democracy.
The Republican leadership should hear a warning in these results. Democrats should hear an obligation.
Neither party owns the people who voted for it. Neither party owns America.
We the people do.
And anyone elected to serve us should remember that we can hire someone else.