There are some of us who are \u201cpurists\u201d. We were the ones who had faith in Americans to see through the Trump campaign back in 2016. We thought we saw Mr. Trump as he was, a charlatan, a \u201cone trick pony\u201d actor who was playing \u201cThe Apprentice\u201d on a national scale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We read the national polls going into November of 2016. And we fell for the \u201cscientificity\u201d of polling in October. Sure, Trump had clawed back much of the advantage Clinton held throughout the summer and fall, but she still held a lead. That critical \u201cmargin of error\u201d in tiny type at the bottom of each graph, wasn\u2019t really important, was it? And the fact that Trump had climbed within that margin, aided by FBI Director Jim Comeys\u2019 leaked letter to Congress, should have sounded alarms. It didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And there is that other factor, the one that still haunts us today. That somehow polling didn\u2019t reach the \u201ccloset\u201d Trump voter, the one that won\u2019t admit to voting for the man, but in the secrecy of the voting booth still commits the deed. Afterward, many of us made a big deal of the \u201ccloset vote\u201d. But reality was there weren\u2019t that many. Vote counts were all within the polling margin of error. Looking back, I think it was more a matter of hubris. We thought, \u201cHow dare someone we knew, maybe even our friends, vote for \u2018that man\u2019? Of course they wouldn\u2019t admit it, even to pollsters. They hid their \u2018evil\u2019 intentions.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the \u201cpurists\u201d share a searing memory. That moment, somewhere in the middle of the night, when we realized that Barack Obama was going to be succeeded by Donald Trump. That somehow, someway, the America that had progressed to the point of electing the first Black President, instead of choosing the first woman, was now electing — him. All of the issues we hoped could be resolved by Hillary Clinton were now at risk. It wasn\u2019t a nightmare, because we weren\u2019t asleep. We cried for America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We had no idea how bad it would really be. Many tried to find a way to hang on to progressivism. It was called \u201cthe Resistance\u201d, and the purists signed on from inauguration day on. Millions marched in the streets, chanting \u201cnot my President\u201d. But, of course, he was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were small victories. John McCain, of all people, saved the Affordable Care Act. The Supreme Court stopped the \u201cMuslim Ban\u201d. The FBI investigated Russia\u2019s involvement, and when Comey was fired, we had great hopes for the Mueller Investigation. And, Donald Trump, President, was the third in history to be impeached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Trump had great victories as well. The Border Wall, whether it really is being built or not, was a winning issue for the President. And environmental rules have been slashed. America stopped its leadership on climate change and renewable energy. And perhaps saddest of all, children are still being separated at the border, in spite of Federal Court intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The one unifying theme of the Trump Administration has been a cavalier ignorance of the Constitutional norms of America\u2019s Democracy. They\u2019ve broken all the \u201crules\u201d to improve life for the 1%. And they have committed the most egregious sin of all: incompetence. The \u201cteam\u201d that came in, the Trump Organization writ large, failed to protect America from the ravages of pandemic. They didn\u2019t just fumble the ball they threw the entire game. In industrialized nations, our response rates as one of the worst. It costs thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is an old phrase: \u201cbeggars can\u2019t be choosers\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0We are an America in crisis.\u00a0\u00a0Resistors cannot be Puritan about who can join our cause.\u00a0\u00a0We must accept the aid of other Americans, wherever they are coming from, and whenever they \u201csaw the light\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Maybe it\u2019s the \u201cNever-Trump\u201d Republicans, like those in the Lincoln Project.\u00a0\u00a0Sure, they remain traditional Republican conservatives, and in normal times they would be battling progressive ideas.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But we are not living in normal times. They bring their skills to the table, and we should embrace their energy. We need them to reach out to their kindred spirits, now \u201ccloseted\u201d Republicans who cannot stand to vote for Trump again. The Lincoln Project Republicans can legitimize their vote. While they cannot embrace \u201cthe Resistance\u201d, or heaven forbid, Black Lives Matter, they can see McCain\u2019s campaign manager, and a Republican candidate for White House Counsel, George Conway, as leaders they can follow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, my Resistance friends remember this. The President has already hinted that he won\u2019t accept the election outcome. He doesn\u2019t have to, but it would absolutely help if there were an overwhelming mandate to remove him from office. We need every vote, not just to win, but also to win decisively and end the Trump reign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Enemy of My Enemy is my Friend\u201d. If you are voting against Donald Trump, you are welcome to the cause. Whether you were a \u201cResistor\u201d from the beginning, or a realist who finally recognizes the incompetence of the pandemic response, welcome. We can argue about our philosophical differences later. Right now we are in an existential crisis, perhaps at the crossroads of our Democracy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Late or early, welcome to the Resistance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"