Conversation about articles like this would go better if people (1) distinguished the strategic dilemma facing Democrats+liberals from the moral+historic context of the Trump victory, and (2) avoided stereotypes about who liberals actually are. 1/237 nyti.ms/2Ieg0h3
As a matter of strategy, Dems+liberals absolutely must reach constituencies that voted for President Trump. Obama->Trump voters are a key heartland constituency. Many are reachable, particularly through issues such as Medicaid+disability. We certainly can't give up on them. 2/237
As a matter of history+morality, liberals+many other Americans of diverse perspectives are absolutely correct that Trump voters harmed America. They elected a comprehensively unfit, grifting, and bigoted demagogue. This isn't liberal self-righteousness. It's just a fact. 3/237
It's a mistake to claim that every Trump voter is racist. Yet as @charles_gaba has noted, for every Trump voter+GOP operative who supported him, Trump's long history of open racism+xenophobia were not deal-breakers, either. This should have been. 4/237
Trump voters in my life are understandably defensive, sometimes remorseful about this. Many conspicuously say: "I don't like the tweeting." They should be engaged w/respect, humanity+tact. This respect includes simple honesty. People are responsible for their actions+votes. 5/237
President Trump ran a dishonorable campaign+is a dishonorable president. He+his supporters are responsible for that. It's not @HillaryClinton's fault. It's not Elizabeth Warren's or @SenSanders's fault. It's not liberal professors' or Twitter social justice warriors' fault. 6/237
There are also stereotypes about who liberals are, what we believe, why we do what we do, as if most liberals are upper-west-side affluent yuppies who supposedly look down on the rest of America. 7/237
Sure--there are self-righteous+obnoxious liberals. There are a few stupid annoying people on Twitter. There are liberals whose personal lives don't honor the best liberal values in all sorts of ways. Some hold political office, too. 8/237
Most working-class Americans favor liberal policies. Most working-class voters supported Hillary Clinton. Many liberals are nonwhite, are LGBTQ, are touched by disability, poverty, or family immigration or health problems. The President enjoys almost zero nonwhite support. 9/237
If people seem a bit snippy about the Trump presidency, they're not consumed by the latest Twitter battle over culturally appropriated prom dresses or whatever. They often face immediate, sometimes very personal reasons to support civil liberties+social insurance. 10/237
Sure--Liberals get a lot wrong. We've made mistakes+blown some important battles. This year and in 2020, we must raise our game. We need to get out to rural Michigan+Wisconsin, reach out to+learn from voters we counted on who drifted away in 2016. 11/237
Whatever our mistakes, I'm left cold by yet another concern-trolling piece about how self-righteous liberals just don't get it or whatever. We should be proud we're still out there, bluntly defending core values of a pluralist democracy. 12/237
We've won some key battles, too, most obviously to defend Medicaid and health coverage for millions of people. If we are smart and determined, we will win many more. 13/237
With any luck, some of us will be writing concern-trolling articles in 2019+2021, claiming self-righteous conservatives don't get America+are out of the mainstream. But that would wrong, too. Our best 7political traditions contain both liberal+conservative ideas+people. 14/237
Trumpism is another story. Every American--across the political spectrum--has a responsibility to defeat the current administration. And to ensure that no one like President Trump is ever elected again. 15/237
That responsibility starts with the president's own supporters. They should understand why the majority of Americans who disapprove of President Trump are so angry, and why efforts to blame liberals for our current debacle are so insulting and misguided. 16/237 (ok the end).
