For liberals this starts with recognizing that Trump is the symptom, not the disease. Getting him out of the White House was the *first* step. For leftists this starts with recognizing that the Democratic Party is not, in fact, the worst thing that has ever happened to the world.

No, the structure of our country is such that the Democrats will necessarily be the main vehicle of antifascism. That's the reality. So we've got to make the party into that, rather than rejecting the party as irredeemably complicit.

The fact is, we can't argue about the extend of Medicaid expansion or about student loan debt repayment schedules if we have to fend off the collapse of democracy every couple decades. We need to win that latter fight to have the former ones.

lol the number of repliers that have taken it upon themselves to say "yes but is it not the case that the true problem is the Democratic Party"

@JakeAnbinder upzone staten island

@JakeAnbinder Or even in a “we have to obliterate this political force” way. The democrats need to be better at pointing at their enemies (fascism being a main one, I’d think) and saying, “my intent is to crush you.” They need to practice in the mirror a LOT and then get out there and say it

@JakeAnbinder And our current system of government is set up to give these fascism supporters disproportionate power: they can win with a minority of the vote. We need to fix this at all costs, even if it means doing things outside the political norm, even if it means delaying our policy goals

@JakeAnbinder We may have to do some of each. Certainly the left, in pointing out the real contribution of economic inequality to our political mess, has done yeoman service. One thing to address BOTH - strengthen unions.

@JakeAnbinder @MaraWilson First step- put the electoral college to bed. Or we’re dealing with this nightmare again in four years. Enough is enough. Aren’t the last elections enough evidence that it no longer reflects our popular vote? Once it’s gone, so much energy can be spent on better things.

@JakeAnbinder ultimately it doesn't seem that different from country to country. The difference in Germany and France is that conservative elites were willing to throw in with liberals for the good of the country while in the U.S. and Britain they weren't.

@JakeAnbinder but I’m told if you just pronounced the words “medicare for all” instead of endorsing a slightly different government healthcare plan most of them will magically become socialists

@JakeAnbinder @MaraWilson That's how Adolf got his way...

@JakeAnbinder Things like abolishing the electoral college, deciding the president by popular vote, statehood for DC and Puerto Rico.

@JakeAnbinder @mateosfo Eliminating the EC and reforming the Senate and voting rights would help

@JakeAnbinder @mateosfo They don't think it's fascism. They think it's a strong man in charge and getting things done. 🙄

@JakeAnbinder @bettafishyy they do not see as fascism, they see it as combating socialism, which is just as bad.

@JakeAnbinder People can always change, but since fascists mostly exist in a state of perpetual aggression and anger, we can't be lukewarm in the fight against fascism.

@JakeAnbinder I think that number might actually drop after today? Germans became a lot less okay with fascism after 1945.