What unfolded in Walnut Hills was more than a security scare; it was a stark illustration of how political conflict now follows leaders home, even when they are hundreds of miles from Washington. Vance’s residence had already become a flashpoint, a place where debates over Ukraine, foreign policy, and national identity materialized not in hearing rooms, but on sidewalks and front lawns. The alleged hammer, even if only used against property, carried the weight of every fear that words might one day give way to something worse.

This latest incident forces a painful question: how much danger are we willing to accept as the price of political passion? Protest outside a private home, confrontations near a child, an attempted breach by a stranger—each step erodes the unwritten rules that once kept public life and private safety apart. The Secret Service ended the immediate threat, but not the deeper crisis. A democracy can survive fierce argument; it cannot endure when its disagreements are carried to the doorstep, one home at a time.