Damon Linker in Persuasion: The results this time weren’t, to put it in poker terms, a rare inside straight easily manipulable by nefarious forces. Trump gained ground in nearly every corner of the country, among nearly every segment of the electorate.
Which means Trump has real and broad-based support. Does some of that support come from fervent racists and xenophobes and sexists? I’m sure it does. Just as undoubtedly the outright fascists and neo-Nazis are thrilled by his win. But there are many more Americans who voted for him for other reasons.
It is a fallacy to believe that the thing you see in and hate about a politician is inevitably reflected in those who vote for him or her. That’s why I was so critical of Harris for closing her campaign by pushing the line that Trump is a fascist—because it implied that those entertaining a vote for him were fascists themselves. Some small number of people might have responded to that by thinking, “why yes, I am, and thanks for noticing.” But far more probably found the suggestion outrageous, condescending, and insulting.
It’s time for the political and intellectual opposition to Trumpism to move forward—soberly, intelligently, with a level head, and in full awareness of just how big Donald Trump’s achievement really is.
More here.
A version of this piece also appears today in Notes from the Middleground.
