A French reporter's perfect explanation of America just came true

Supporters react after media outlets projected Democratic US Senate candidate and Texas State Representative James Talarico's victory in the US midterm elections in Austin, Texas, US, November 3, 2026.

I’ve told the story before, but I hope you’ll oblige me again, as I recount the phone call I got from a French reporter with Le Monde, France’s largest daily newspaper, that will forever incapsulate America better than I ever could in 50 writings.

It was the morning after Barack Obama had claimed the presidency with a resounding victory over John McCain in the 2008 election …

I was in Germany at the time, running the overseas editorial operations for Stars & Stripes, and Europe was six years ahead of America with its celebration.

My assistant told me I should probably take this call.

When I picked up the phone, the excited woman on the other end of the line, launched at me with this:

“Let me just say before we start, that Americans are capable of doing the stupidest things ever like reelecting George Bush, and then capable of doing the greatest things ever like electing Barack Obama. We never know what to expect!”

That call, and that woman, were on my mind Tuesday night when Americans did one of “the greatest things ever” and overwhelmingly voted to return their country to the people, and in the vicinity of a functioning Democracy.

Nearly 10 years to the day when everything that could go wrong in America did, the country got darn everything completely right. Ten years after America once again did one of “the stupidest things ever” by electing a gruesome man who abused women, rather than the woman who loved her country, it whipped up a Blue Tsunami that is still rolling across America this afternoon.

What happened on Tuesday night will be a featured chapter in the history books Republicans hate so much, and I am smiling ear to ear as I type this knowing that it is impossible to do it any justice today.

I harken back to my sportswriting days, when the enemy of the reporter on deadline was writing about a memorable game, because it was an impossible task recounting the wonders you had witnessed just moments earlier.

The only thing I can do almost without fail, was diminish its significance. You had to be there …

Tuesday night was one of those instances.

It reminded me of those Christmas mornings as a little boy, when our family was flush with just a little extra cash, allowing Santa to deliver plenty of presents under the tree.

Where to start with all these goodies?!

When I cautiously clicked on my TV to MS NOW, so that I could be in a safe space in the event the worst came to pass, it was clear very early that if nothing else, it wasn’t going to be one of those horrific nights.

Places like Kentucky and Indiana were delivering encouraging early numbers. Polls were closing up and down the East Coast, when suddenly the frenzy started, and we were given the OK to dive in and start ripping open the presents that had been delivered by an American electorate and the Ghost of Christmases past.

Democrats started winning races at a furious pace, and were ahead everywhere on the map. It was clear they were over-performing in even the most unlikely places, and now the show’s host, Rachel Maddow, was prompting Ali Velshi to check in on key races in Georgia, and Florida … North and South Carolina …

I swear to God I get goosebumps recounting this, because at that point magic was suddenly in the air.

This couldn’t be real.

And while I am a cantankerous old scribe who doesn’t watch much of what passes for news on the tube, I was blown away by how good Maddow had become at her job. She had gone from a person with everything inside her head and no way to possibly relay it with the heft it deserved, to a person who knew how to deliver her brilliance in a steady cadence that had you marching along with her at a quickening and thrilling pace.

She was masterful as she directed Velshi (who is an underrated talent), to check on the Big Board to read out numbers and context that were almost too much to believe.

The Blue Wave was building into a monster from East to West and spirits were rising with it.

The “oh my Gods” of 2016 had been replaced with the “OH-MY-GODS!!!!” of 2026.

South Carolina was about to fall, and Texas was shaking.

And when Texas — TEXAS — finally collapsed with a resounding thud, freedom rang and all the misery that state had delivered Democrats over the decades was replaced with the delicious notion that the second-richest electoral state was now purple, and the overwhelming reality that if Republicans can’t win there they will never win another presidential election in our lifetimes.

That’s worth reading again, because numbers simply don’t lie in elections. If you can win Texas and its 40 electoral votes, then the Blue Wall States of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania and their 44 electoral votes combined, are not absolutely crucial for a Democratic victory any longer.

But oh by the way, those three states all went resoundingly blue Tuesday night, headlined by their marquee races, where a Black man is now the governor-elect in Wisconsin, a Muslim man is now the Senator-elect in Michigan, and a Jewish man is the governor of Pennsylvania.

Because did you notice the diversity in the Democratic Party?

Did you see the enormous talent that presented itself wrapped in a rainbow of colors and bold ideas for our nation?

Texas went from a dry as toast, mean, uncaring white man, to a joyous, smart, uplifting Latina, Gina Hinojosa, to run their state. South Carolina elected a brilliant campaigner and pediatrician to replace the pathetic, subservient, and enabling, Lindsey Graham, in the Senate. Kansas elected a Democratic man of faith to the Senate. Georgia will now be run by a Black woman, Keisha Lance Bottoms, while Jon Ossoff, a Jew, won another term to the Senate, alongside a Black man, Raphael Warnock. The two constantly refer to themselves as “brothers from another mother.”

Deb Haaland, has been elected governor of New Mexico and will become the first Native American woman to govern a U.S. state ...

The examples are endless, and I can’t do them all justice here, but a quick word about that Black vote across America, because once again they formed the backbone of the wave that is still breaking across our country. Black voters, particularly the women, voted roughly 90%-10% for Democrats, because they ALWAYS get it right.

As I type this, another Black man, Scott Colom, is on the cusp of winning a Senate seat in Mississippi.

MISSISSIPPI, people.

Mary Peltola, another Native American woman, is leading her Senate race in Alaska.

And I simply can’t release this piece without mentioning that Susan Collins has finally been scraped out of her seat in Maine …

I’m really not concerned about her demise, are you?

It’s as if the national nightmare we have been living in has been replaced by a wonderful dream, where we are not only flying, but SOARING.

The shadow has been lifted and the warmth is washing over us.

We can breathe again.

And if you are waiting for the part, where I scold you not get too overconfident, and that there is still work to do, and January is along way off, and blah, blah, blah … well, that will have to wait for another time, because I am not in the mood for all that right now, and you shouldn’t be either.

THIS IS OUR TIME.

If you have been standing in the cold for the past 10 years, today you should let the sun shine in. Everything that absolutely, positively had to happen Tuesday, did. Democrats didn't just beat Trump’s lawless Republicans they absolutely WALLOPED them.

Right now it looks like Democrats outvoted Republicans by 13%, which is just stunning.

James Talarico won his Texas seat by +12%. Roy Cooper won the Senate here in purple North Carolina by +20. Dr. Andrews won South Carolina by +4.

Are you reading this?

Almost every race went this way.

But some of you want to get back to worrying right now?

Give it a rest.

Hell, the votes are still being counted and Democrats are continuing to win everywhere at the state and local level. The Blue Wave isn’t done cleansing America yet, and we should enjoy its reinvigorating, crystal, blue spray as it washes over us, and sets us free.

Breathe. Laugh. Rejoice.

The Democrats have won the Senate, the House, loads of Governors races, myriad local races, and the hearts of most of America.

Once again we proved we can do “the greatest things ever.”

We still have that in us, my friends, and that is everything, because if we can do this, what else can we do?!

And now I am crying …

I am proud to be an American, and I wasn’t sure that I’d ever type that again.

D. Earl Stephens is the author of “Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump’s Very Important Letters” and was an awarding-winning journalist at several newspapers before finishing up as the Managing Editor of Stars and Stripes. You can find all his work here.

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