All the Pretty Little Nazis

A supporter of President Donald Trump makes a gesture indicating that his heart goes out to you at an election night watch party sponsored by the New York Young Republicans Club on November 5, 2024, at bar in the East village neighborhood of New York City. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

1. It’s Up to Them

I do not go to social media for wisdom, but Georgetown professor Jonathan Ladd summed up something important—and depressing—the other day.

I mean . . . when you put it like that?

Yikes.

But actually, the problem is even worse. Because ultimately it’s not a question of “someone else” deciding to defeat Trumpists. What is required is that a plurality of Republican voters needs to stop choosing authoritarianism.

In order for us to get out of this death spiral, we need coordinated action between Republican elites and tens of millions of Republican voters.

Democrats cannot—and will not—win every election. The only possible path for survival is lowering the stakes of our elections by having both parties support liberal democracy.

---

This is why I resist infantilizing voters and treating elected Republicans as though they lack agency. Because if the only answer is—

Democrats have to be perfect. They must only put forward flawless candidates. They can hold no unpopular ideas. They shall communicate effectively. They may never preside over a war or a recession.

—well, then we’re fucked. Because the Democratic party isn’t a divine creation of Providence. It’s just a normal political party of the sort you see in functional democracies. It has some good ideas and some bad ideas. It has its share of crazies and cynics. Not every Democratic politician is true blue. Some of them are jerks, or crooks, or strivers.

And what about on the other side? How is the next generation of Republicans shaping up?

Let’s talk about this story and what it suggests about the shape of our future.