The sad truth is that Donald Trump would be nothing without his mass of like-minded followers. Thanks to the 2016 primary and general elections, and the current polls, we know that about 30 percent of the American electorate consists of reactionaries who are far more wedded to their values than to our political system. If they are ever forced to make a clear choice between the two, things could get really ugly in this country, really fast.
What can be done about this? There are essentially three ways to address the problem:
- TRY TO CRUSH THE REACTIONARIES: America clearly needs to be more woke! The obvious answer is to win power and use it to destroy the more obnoxious forms of red culture. To which I say, good luck with that. The harder you try, the worse the backlash.
- FEEDING THE ALLIGATORS: Avoid conflict by making it clear that you represent the interests of the entire American public, not just the woke part. Show sympathy for Christians, and even support limited exceptions to civil rights laws for them. Enforce the immigration laws in a fair but conspicuous way to build trust. And so on.
- RELY ON ATTRITION: The majority of reactionaries are old white guys who are going to die fairly soon, anyway. Don’t confront or appease them; just wait them out.
So what would I do? A combination of the last two options is the only viable approach.