Remember when we merely disagreed fundamentally about tax policy, foreign policy, universal health coverage, climate change, LGBTQ equality, and reproductive health? You know: the normal stuff.
Don’t worry. We’ll be back to that soon enough.
Author: Harold Pollack
Harold Pollack is Helen Ross Professor of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. He has served on three expert committees of the National Academies of Science. His recent research appears in such journals as Addiction, Journal of the American Medical Association, and American Journal of Public Health. He writes regularly on HIV prevention, crime and drug policy, health reform, and disability policy for American Prospect, tnr.com, and other news outlets. His essay, "Lessons from an Emergency Room Nightmare" was selected for the collection The Best American Medical Writing, 2009. He recently participated, with zero critical acclaim, in the University of Chicago's annual Latke-Hamentaschen debate.
View all posts by Harold Pollack
Is this the open thread on Clinton v. Trump promised here?
Don't be so sure there will be any return to normalcy. I think a mask has been ripped off of American politics, and the root of our right's appeal has been laid bare. Yes, we can crush Trump in a general election, but the problem of how a Republican wins a future primary without some overt appeal to the openly racist/sexist/antisemitic "alt-right" is still there. They're feeling their oats, precisely because white guys know they're a shrinking force in US politics, and I think open calls for white-supremacist violence are going to get more common.
I think it depends on how thoroughly Trump gets drubbed and how many downballot republicans lose along with him. "Moderate" republicans have been trying to keep power by making common cause with the crazies (ahem), but they might find that they achieve any legislative goals more effectively by excluding them.
I agree with you about the danger of white-supremacist violence, although I think that a lot of that has been bubbling right along quietly.
I'd rather look at that picture than talk about anything right now.