#AnneApplebaum #Democracy #Midterms2026 #TheAtlantic #VoteMatters
For the past year and a half, I’ve heard the same question from friends, readers, and even myself on quiet mornings: does voting still matter? When the system feels rigged, it’s easy to slip into despair and tune out. I’ve always believed that what we focus on grows, and that hopelessness is one of the lowest frequencies we can live in. So when I watched this short piece from Anne Applebaum, one line at the end stayed with me long after the video ended.
Applebaum, a historian who has spent decades studying authoritarian regimes, argues that the midterm elections were about something deeper than control of Congress. In her view, Americans were deciding whether the country, 250 years after its founding, would remain a democracy. She walks through what she sees as a deliberate pattern in President Trump’s second term, one she says mirrors strategies used by leaders in Hungary and Russia. She describes pressure on state election officials, White House-directed gerrymandering, attacks on universities, scientists, and the press, and a Republican-led Congress that she says chose silence over oversight.
She doesn’t stop at the problems, though. Applebaum lays out what she believes the next Congress needs to do, from investigating abuses of power to tackling the outsized role of money in American elections. And she closes on a hopeful note: despite everything, people across the country turned out and voted. In her words, ordinary citizens playing by the rules can still shape their country’s future.
Whatever your politics, this is a thoughtful, sobering, and ultimately encouraging five minutes worth your time.
Key Takeaways
- More than policy was at stake. Applebaum frames the midterms as a referendum on whether the U.S. would remain a democracy, not just a contest over issues like gas prices and healthcare.
- The states became the defenders. She notes that the federal government once helped states keep elections safe. This year, she says, states had to defend their constitutional right to run elections against pressure from Washington.
- A familiar autocratic playbook. Applebaum argues the administration has followed a pattern seen in Hungary and Russia, targeting civil servants, universities, the legal profession, scientists, and journalists.
- Congress stepped aside. She criticizes the Republican majority for failing to check the president on tariffs, the war in Iran, ICE, Elon Musk’s role in government, and possible conflicts of interest.
- A to-do list for the next Congress. She calls on new leaders to investigate abuses of power, repair weakened institutions, pass conflict-of-interest laws for foreign policy, and address both AI oversight and a strained healthcare system.
- Money is the root imbalance. Above all, Applebaum points to the billions spent on American campaigns and the influence of the wealthiest donors as the deepest problem in U.S. politics.
- Stay alert until certification. She warns that the election isn’t truly over until results are certified and new members are sworn in, and urges viewers to watch for lawsuits or unexplained delays.
- Citizens still have power. Her closing message is one of hope: people voted, turnout was strong in many places, and ordinary Americans proved they can still fight back.
Video source: The Atlantic
