No Need For Alarm

It's too soon.

Not so, would argue MoveOn and the leaders of 21 other national leftist organizations. They have signed an open letter denouncing Donald Trump and encouraging a three pronged effort: "non-violent mobiliation and organizing;""asking every media outlet, corporation, and office-holder to condemn Trump's racism, misogyny, and xenophobia;" and "a voting renaissance."

Premised on myths, the letter includes

We cannot afford to underestimate him until it’s too late, as many Republicans now regret having done during the primaries. If we wait to see how things shake out to make our plans, it’ll be too late and November will come sooner than anyone thinks.

Republicans who say they waited too long underestimate their own voters. Author Solomon Jones summarizes "Republicans, in an attempt to capitalize on the anger of white voters after the election of the first black president, spent nearly eight years sowing fertile seeds of anger in the rich soil of hatred. The result was a bumper crop of Donald Trump." The Party practically created Donald Trump, and it's unclear what strategy, employed months earlier, would have stymied him.

Panic seems to be setting in as they warn against waiting "to see how things shake out to make" their plans.  Prior to the first general election presidential debate in 2012, Mitt Romney had a lead of less than one percentage point over Barack Obama among likely voters. After that face-off in Denver, Romney's lead grew to approximately 4%. President Obama eventually won the election by 3.9%. Preferences come and go, changing rapidly and significantly. .Further, the nomination of Trump is not a foregone conclusion, especially- ironically- if he wins in Ohio, thereby creating a two-man race.

The authors believe contend Trump's likely nomination represents "a five-alarm fire threat to our democracy" while he

peddles the same right-wing agenda holding back working families and their communities: low wages, massive tax cuts for the wealthy, mass incarceration, denial of climate change, unraveling protections for workers’ rights, attacks on immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, attacks on LGBTQ rights, and more.

That is "the  same  right-wing agenda"- aside from Trump opposing cuts to Social Security and elimination of Planned Parenthood- which consistently is peddled on the right. However, the GOP nomination, after today, will come down to Trump, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich, or only Trump and Cruz. And while John Kasich is- arguably- less conservative than Donald Trump, no one would claim that of the Texas senator.

In the recent National Review issue dedicated to presenting the argument against Trump, L. Brent Bozell maintained the real estate mogul never had supported conservative causes because "he was too distracted publicly raising money for liberals such as the Clintons; championing Planned Parenthood, tax increases, and single-payer health coverage; and demonstrating his allegiance to the Democratic party."  Mona Charen cited his "countless past departures from conservative principle on defense, racial quotas, abortion, taxes, single-payer health care, and immigration." Erick Erickson claimed that until recently Trump supported "the prosecution of hate crimes. He favored wealth-confiscation policies. He supported abortion rights."

And Ben Domenech, the right-wing libertarian sufficiently reasonable-sounding that he frequently appears with Chris Hayes as a guest on All In, levels the greatest Republican insult of them all: Trump supports "Euro-style identity politics" (freedom fries, anyone?).

Donald Trump, as a few of his rallies have indicated, certainly has sown the seeds of discord and as observed by the group of progressives, "has repeatedly incited and praised violence against those whom he belittles and with whom he disagrees."  Nonetheless, it is unwise to mobilize to defeat a candidate who may not become the nominee and who apresents less of a danger than does his major opponent of being elected if he is nominated and would be less of a threat to liberal values.
















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