It is time we left Trump to the fate of history. The long-term consequences of his Presidency are unclear. For the present, however, we have a job to do. Our party-system has fragmented. Linkages between party and different groups of citizens have frayed. Office holders cling to old alliances and hear footsteps on the stairs.
Trump and his policies are two separate issues. We need to separate them. I’m not endorsing, necessarily, his policies, but I am saying that many of the ideas he espoused should be taken seriously and debated openly.
There are a minority of Americans who have been “cult-like” in their loyalty to the man. I get this loyalty. Many were “starved” for a government that at least symbolically appeared to represent their needs. “He’s one of us.” “He understands me.” “He is working for us.”
That leaves us, though, in the midst of a partisan realignment with a mental stumbling block. Trump is still around. His personal style of politics will not help rebuild a responsible two-party system.
Serious people, many of which I believe voted for Trump, need to take over. There are issues to study, ideological positions to critique, evidence to assess. We have not reached the point where we can sit back and ignore each other.
Rival coalitions, based on both ideological assumptions and critical policy choices, are forming.
Two new (or transformed) political parties will be reaching out to us and promising to represent our aspirations and needs.
Trump is irrelevant to this.
As social and political forces rebuild alliances and create coalitions, we will find ourselves side by side with those who voted overwise in the last election. We must engage them in serious, intelligent discussion, seeking policies that will meet our hopes, and, yes, improve the lives of our brothers and sisters, from the rain forests of Brazil, to the savannahs of the Sudan, from the cafes of Paris to the slums of Kolkata.
Let the “jaws of history” close on Donald Trump. We have serious work to do.