Thomas Friedman examines the implications of a Democratic victory in a Republican stronghold

Opinion columnist Thomas Friedman, in his New York Times op-ed, took the Democratic candidate’s victory in local elections as a starting point for diagnosing a deep national crisis, calling for a restoration of “commons” and shared meaning before an identity race pushes the country to the brink.

Democratic candidate Taylor Remmitt won the Texas state Senate midterm election, defeating Republican candidate Lee Wampsgness by a wide margin, giving Democrats the seat for the first time in decades.

On Saturday, Rimet, a machinist union worker and US Air Force veteran, won the conservative Tarrant County congressional district near Dallas by a margin of more than 14 percentage points.

Friedman believes that this victory is not just a fleeting electoral event, but has a broader political significance related to the state of deep exhaustion felt by a growing sector of the American people in the face of rigidly partisan and polarized politics.

He explained that the main message sent by voters in this constituency was to reject the logic of “internal enemies” and affirm that “we are neighbors, not enemies”, reflecting a nostalgia for politics that redefines citizens as neighbors with common interests and public institutions.

This victory is not just a passing electoral event. Rather, it has a broader political meaning related to the state of deep fatigue felt by a growing sector of the American people in the face of rigid partisanship and polarized politics.

The author places this event in the broader context of criticism directed at President Donald Trump, who accuses him of advocating a “scorched earth” approach to governance, deepening divisions by demonizing political opponents, politicizing cultural and public institutions, and turning political disagreements into existential conflict. According to Friedman, this approach no longer reflects political “fatigue” as much as it reflects a real fear that the country will descend into civil conflict.

He emphasized that Remit achieved success by dissociating himself from partisan classifications and focusing on supporting comprehensive issues, primarily public education – including vocational education – and service institutions, while he preferred to avoid sharp ideological discourse.

From the writer’s perspective, this option referred to the public mood that was beginning to take shape amid efforts by the “social” right to control school boards and impose a cultural agenda based on banning books and stifling debate about identity.

This trend is consistent with Friedman’s field observations in conservative regions like southern Kansas, where he found that the term “community” — which includes schools, parks and public libraries — enjoys a popular consensus that far outweighs the divisive cries raised by political leaders.

But Friedman does not absolve the progressive movement of responsibility, warning that the identity politics embraced by the left in recent years have also helped to dismantle the idea of ​​common citizenship.

He cites the suggestion of economist Glenn Lurie, who argues that the right has not challenged identity politics by rejecting it, but rather by adopting the opposite version, which has led to a dangerous “convergence” of identity as the main arena of conflict instead of seeking a unifying national ground.

The article warns that this path represents a collective race to the bottom, in which Americans move away from their historic project of transforming diversity into unity and engage in a “zero-sum” struggle over the identity of the state and who has the right to represent it. Friedman urged Americans to be inspired by the model of “America’s Army,” which unites vast and rare diversity under its banner, which dissolves into one unifying American identity.

At the end of the article, the writer concluded that saving American political life begins with the restoration of the language of pacification and mutual recognition of humanity, remembering the victims of the last protests before their death: “I’m not mad at you” about national reconciliation before it’s too late.