The courts, legislature, and executive branches were soon fighting one another, then fighting the states, fighting the education systems, fighting the police and the military, fighting the voters, fighting the sports and entertainment industry, and fighting corporations, then everyone fighting one another while AI watched. Filmmaker Ken Burns described it as the fourth great crisis, right behind the Civil War, the Great Depression and World War II. How we survive beyond the elections will be up to us who honestly believe this democracy is worth saving.

A weary and angry electorate has used the ballot box this time to express their outrage about the economy, the wars, and the shameless corruption all around. According to the Associated Press, nearly sixty million people voted early — no doubt, anxious about what political shenanigans could happen on Election Day. Whether they voted early or on Election Day, one out of four voters cast their votes in opposition to Trump and his MAGA policies.

In Wisconsin, early voting results have Democrats sweeping the statewide offices. David Crowley will be the next governor. Democrats will likely win the Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Treasurer. On the national scene, the nation has been closely watching the competitive U.S. Senate races in seven states. Susan Collins is struggling to keep her seat in Maine; James Talarico flipped a Red seat in Texas; Sherrod Brown made a stunning comeback in Ohio; Adam Hamilton handily took on his Republican rival in Kansas; and South Carolinian voters rejected the Graham legacy and took a chance on Annie Andrews; Josh Turek knocked his Red rival out the box; and Georgia’s Jon Ossoff handily won re-election. At press time, it appears that the Democrats have the 51 seats they need to claim the majority and overcome Vice President JD Vance’s tie-breaking vote.

This may give some a glimmer of hope, but I say not so fast. What is the Democrats' plan to create a just economic system, end political corruption, and bring domestic peace to the people? Will they hold Republicans to account, as the Democratic Party engages in an aggressive transformation of government that has been gutted and left dysfunctional? Can they restore trust and repair the harm to the lives and futures of the American people? The answer to these questions will point us in a certain direction.

Here’s the most important part of this democratic restoration equation: the People must stay woke and engaged. For too many election cycles, we went to the polls and went home thinking our responsibility was over. No, we have not learned our lesson! The mess that’s been made, the lives that have been destroyed, the futures that have been compromised — this is going to take our sustained participation in rebuilding the kind of democracy that has eluded us. I maintain that it has eluded us because we keep giving up our power to decision makers who have not proven they are committed or competent enough for the job.

Trump’s presidential wins in 2017 and 2024 were not flukes. Trump is the Frankenstein we created that is now out of control — our control. We have a responsibility to be an integral part of the rebuilding, the reimagining, and the repairing of the society we want our grandchildren to inherit. Those who undermine our collective efforts in this next phase must feel the wrath of the People. We should never go down this road again. Never.