This article by Brian Beutler addresses head on a question that’s been rattling around in my mind these last weeks - what’s the real dynamic between Trump and Congressional Republicans? Refreshingly, he points out that, rather than implementing some sort of wild Trump-originated agenda, much of what Trump is doing is implementing Republican policies. He also hits on what I think is a key element of what is going on - the sheer unpopularity of the agenda, and how Republicans see this as their grand opportunity to shove it down the country’s throat. Beutler strikes on the metaphor of the Republicans being on a suicide mission with Trump, one that he describes as self-reinforcing - they have more incentive to support Trump, since he’s at least supporting their agenda, than to oppose him, which would arguably be the right thing, but which could mean giving up their last, best chance to push through unpopular measures.
I think Beutler is basically right here, except for one crucial bit - I don’t think any political party ever willingly embraces its own self-destruction. What should worries us all is that the Republican incentive to support Trump wherever he goes may well lead to dark, anti-democratic efforts at self-preservation. Possible forms these might take are restrictions on voting rights, implementation of new illegal surveillance programs to spy on Trump’s opposition, or manipulation of a new terror attack into a broad attack on civil liberties and political opponents.
I would LOVE to think that the Republicans are destroying themselves, but this is an idea that has been disproved time and again over the past decade and a half. It will take a democratically renewed Democratic Party to end the current Republican hegemony in American politics, not the actions of a party increasingly untethered to democratic norms.
As important as steadfastly opposing Trump, the Democrats need to clearly and vigorously articulate an economic vision that puts jobs for all, reduction of inequality, and real economic development at the heart of its party platform, right beside advocacy for equal rights for all. Why? Because our economic disparities are the root of Trumpism - he has risen to power by feeding off the despair that so many Americans feel, a despair that was clearly not addressed during the eight years of the Obama administration. And while there are strong racism, xenophobia, and anti-Muslim sentiments in many of his supporters, these sentiments draw their sustenance from the economic travails of these Americans. Let me put it this way: well-paid, happily employed people who are able to live their lives with dignity, meaning, and initiative will simply not care if they perceive that people who are different from them are also doing well. Or I can put it even more crudely: Just because you’re racist, or a misogynist, doesn’t mean you don’t deserve a job.
The way that we’re going to fully reject Trumpism and ensure we never have to experience such a national nightmare again is to convince those who voted for him, and who voted for the complicit Republican party, that Trump and Republican policies largely harm rather than benefit most Americans. As heartened as I’ve been by the defiant energy of the women’s march and the furious opposition to Trump’s immigration orders, two basic things need to happen in the coming weeks and months, complementary to the opposition: we need to oppose a polarization that reinforces the energies of Trump supporters and increases their ranks, and we need to advocate an economic vision that will actually help those who need an economic revival.
To the first point - we need to make sure that in opposing Trump, we don’t seem to be opposing the economic relief he has promised to bring to many Americans. As an example, look at the widespread and appropriate opposition to his moves to build a wall on the southern border and to restrict immigration from Muslim countries. Going after immigrants is a particularly devious move, because it causes the Trump opposition to spend its energy defending non-Americans. The opposition is defending American values - our openness to people of all nations and faiths, our willingness to take in refugees - which is absolutely the right thing to do. But we need to be aware that this is terrain that will possibly drive away Trump voters, if handled without a response to people’s exaggerated but very real concerns about terrorism. Likewise, opposition to the wall needs to be coupled with a strategy for addressing the fact that, yes, illegal immigrants do take some American jobs. For me, the crucial problem here is not the illegal immigrants, but those who hire them, creating an incentive for them to come to our country, effectively depressing wages in our country and creating a vulnerable, easily exploited workforce not protected by basic wage and safety restrictions. Surely no progressives want workers, no matter their nationality, to face fear and exploitation? Yet such is the plight of millions of illegal immigrants in this country today.
The hideousness of the Trump-Republican agenda, and our righteous response to it, shouldn’t ever let us forget that though Hillary Clinton got a lot of votes, Donald Trump got a hell of a lot of votes, too, despite many of these same voters’ reservations about him. As articles like this one suggest, the ability of demagogues to divide people is their strongest weapon. Let’s remember that the way forward is bring people together, and addressing people’s real concerns.