Editorial illustration – When democracy wins, America stands taller—and Liberty’s light shines brighter.
Democrats won both houses of Congress. Now President Trump and the new Congress have a chance to show what Americans can accomplish together.
By : Ya Libnan editor , opinion
The Democratic Party won the midterm election. The big winner was America.
If you ask me what it means to make America great again, I would point to what Americans did on Election Day. They used the ballot box to change who holds power in Washington. That is what a peaceful revolution looks like in a democracy. We still have our differences, but we can settle who governs by counting votes and then get on with the work of governing. Every American has a stake in keeping that possible.
In Michigan, Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed spoke of his love for America after a campaign in which President Donald Trump invoked the September 11 attacks against him. El-Sayed answered with humor. If the president had trouble with his name, he could call him “Senator.” Then he turned to Vice President JD Vance. “JD, habibi,” he said, before joking that Vance would have to swear him in. Habibi is an Arabic term of affection. Hearing it in an American victory speech brought a smile to my face.
If America was the biggest winner, big money was the biggest loser in Michigan. “We built something bigger than a bank account,” El-Sayed told supporters. He said more than $350 million had been spent trying to defeat him across the primary and general election, including $70 million in the primary, and called the overall spending a Michigan record. Michigan voters made their own choice. But why should any community have to overcome spending on that scale to send the person it wants to Washington? When elected officials put their biggest financial backers ahead of their duty to the country, I call that a form of corruption. A parent worried about a medical bill deserves as much attention as a donor who can bankroll the next campaign. Every elected official owes loyalty to the country and to the people who entrusted them with office. Michigan delivered a powerful reminder that voters can hold them to that promise. Victory speech transcript
President Trump deserves credit for congratulating Democrats on their victories. He also surprised many people by announcing that he had reached an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end annual U.S. security assistance to Israel, worth about $3.8 billion a year under the existing agreement. How that announcement will be carried out remains a separate question. The announcement echoed a point El-Sayed had made throughout his campaign about spending American tax dollars on needs here at home. The two men may have arrived at that position for different reasons. Washington should be capable of working with that kind of agreement.
I think of America as a neighborhood. People who have lived there for years naturally want to protect the place they call home. I understand that feeling. But imagine what it does to a neighborhood when people greet a new family with suspicion simply because of their name or how they pray. Indigenous peoples were here long before the rest of our American stories began. Some of our families came by choice and others were brought here by force. Remembering how differently we came to belong here should make us kinder to those arriving today.
More than 55 years ago, I arrived at Dulles Airport from Lebanon. The immigration officer was friendly and handed me my green card. My welcome at Westinghouse Electric was more demanding. I had transferred from Beirut to the company’s international headquarters in New York while Neal, the vice president and an accomplished nuclear engineer, was traveling. When we shook hands, he told me that if I was not as good as my American colleagues, I had better look elsewhere in a month.
“Please read my résumé,” I told him. “If I am not as good or better, I don’t want the job.”
I had never planned to immigrate. I loved Lebanon. Some of the Americans I worked with in Beirut loved it so much that they stayed after their contracts ended and went into business there. I understood their choice. And once I had my chance in America, I understood what it meant to build a life in a country I had never expected to call home.
Neal eventually put me in charge of the Brazilian operation. After Westinghouse sold that business, I went to Europe to train engineers. I later left Westinghouse and ran several international companies. When I retired, I spent several years volunteering with SCORE, counseling people who were trying to start or grow a small business. I still remember the welcome I received at Dulles. I am just as grateful for the chance to give something back.
The voters have entrusted Congress to Democrats, and Donald Trump is still the president. They will disagree, sometimes sharply. They can also show the country what happens when a president and a Congress of different parties respect each other’s authority and work together where they can. That would make the election a victory that Americans of both parties could feel in their daily lives.
The whole world is watching.
