Atrios has a short post today that is a bit more introspective than usual. It’s a thinker about the role of the “Crazy” Left versus the Mainstream Left. It’s not all that long, so Read The Whole Thing, but there were a couple of points that stood out for me.
“… It was always the "crazy left" that was trying to make the Democratic party just, you know, be Democrats, and everybody else basically being like "Why can't a Democrat be more like a Republican." Being against the war or against Social Security privatization (the Dems finally woke up on that one, but it took a lot of yelling) wasn't exactly calling for full communism, and plenty of people who thought they were just standard squishy Democrats suddenly found themselves being lumped together with radicals….”
And,
”… Maybe I'm wrong, but whatever horrors the Trump administration is going to unleash, the important thing is for the Democrats to draw distinctions, and not just hope for team R to step on enough rakes. "Not as evil as the other guys" just doesn't win elections, even when the other guys are really fucking evil.”
Republicans have spent years crafting their ‘brand’ and selling it, while missing no opportunity to trash the Democratic ‘brand’. Is it any wonder we’re now saddled by a man who is nothing BUT a brand?
The country is truly in the hands of radical Republicans of the worst intent. Worrying about being portrayed as “too liberal” or a “crazy lefty” is kind of pointless if we let the point of departure be the Trump regime. Part of normalizing Trump is allowing differences to blur, and giving cover to the real extremists. Let’s not do it. One more point from Atrios as an example:
“...if the "crazy" position is a minimum wage of $25 an hour, then $15 an hour doesn't look so crazy anymore (for example). If the best we can ever do is a compromise, then it's best not to start the negotiations with the compromise position.”