In the 2024 election, the American people, by a small margin, chose to put Donald Trump back in the White House. He will be the country’s first elected authoritarian and will rule as a “dictator” on “day one.” Although Trump’s rule will take lessons from Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, it will adapt and fundamentally be American fascism and autocracy.
Public opinion polls and other research show that the American people are tired, exhausted, disconnected, full of malaise and generally feel like the country is heading in the wrong direction. These collective feelings are the fuel for authoritarianism populism both here in the form of Trumpism and MAGA and around the world. We are in a moment where rage at the elites and the system is a defining feature of the era.
Based on Trump’s policies, temperament, the larger authoritarian and neo-fascist political project and his overall leadership style, these negative feelings and emotions will also be made worse by his time in power. The cruelty is almost always the point; sadopolitics is exhilarating and addictive.
Where is the so-called Resistance in the face of Trump and MAGA’s imminent return to national (and global) power and the country’s democracy crisis? At present the Resistance appears to be muted and silent, resigned to surrender and how the next four years (at least) will be dominated by Trump and the MAGA Republicans and their larger movement’s control over American government and the Supreme Court. The Democrats, an opposition party that does not know how to effectively oppose or resist, is publicly announcing how it will work with the Trump administration and Republican Party to advance policies that will “help” the American people where such opportunities present themselves. Based on history’s lessons, this is a fool’s bargain to the extreme and what will likely be another paragraph in the epithet of America’s multiracial pluralistic democracy.
The Resistance is not something abstract, it is comprised of real people. Like other Americans and members of society, they too are tired, sleep-deprived and exhausted, ground down and feeling the temptations of futility and of succumbing to learned helplessness in the face of Trump’s reign.
These feelings are especially acute among those Americans who have been resisting Trumpism for more than eight years, were desperately warning and committing resources to stop Trump’s return to power and then saw their hard work betrayed by their fellow Americans who, however they rationalized such a decision, ultimately put Trump back in office because they not could bring themselves to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black woman candidate to seek the presidency and a stalwart defender of the country’s democracy, institutions and the rule of law. However, those feelings cannot be allowed to linger too long and lead to demobilization and surrender. Immediate action will be required to slow down Trump's "shock and awe" campaign against American democracy, civil society, the Constitution, the rule of law and those individuals and groups he has targeted as "the enemy within."
What does resistance, opposition and trying to defend and renew America’s democratic life look like when confronted by such forces and power? What of the relationship between emotions and politics, “the personal and the political” in this moment of democracy crisis and the long Age of Trump and MAGA America? Where do we go from here?
In an attempt to gain some perspective as we navigate Trump’s return to power and the rise of MAGA America, I recently spoke with Virginia Kase Solomón, president and CEO of Common Cause, a nonpartisan government watchdog organization driving systemic change and holding power accountable through grassroots advocacy and legislative action. Since 1970, Common Cause has championed government accountability, ethics and the removal of big money from our nation’s political system. Today, the organization represents over 1.5 million members and 23 state offices.
This is the second part of a two-part conversation.
What is democracy? Why should Americans want to protect and preserve it?
As shown by the outcome of the 2024 election, real democracy is not something that many Americans appear to embrace or are willing to defend. Cheap gas and eggs and “the border crisis” were more important than the Constitution, democracy and the rule of law for those Americans who put Trump back in power.
This is a really great question and it’s one we discuss a lot at Common Cause. From a values standpoint, it really is about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, as described in the Declaration of Independence. At its core, democracy is a system of government where the public elects leaders to advocate on their behalf. In theory, it was created to empower everyday people and to prevent the consolidation of power by any one despot or monarch. Although we know that American democracy has always been flawed and has never fully met its promise, most Americans still support this system of government and we know for a fact that they will protect it when they think it’s being challenged.
"It is not just partisan battles we should keep a close eye on but also inaction from lame-duck legislatures that failed to codify voter protections for disenfranchised voters before leaving office. "
It’s also true that millions of Americans don’t feel our democracy can deliver for them right now. For that reason, many people are willing to take a chance on political leaders who attack democratic norms and promise a full overhaul of our system. These people have every right to be concerned, and as we begin a new term in Washington, it’s on all political leaders in both parties to show Americans that our democracy is still able to address the most pressing challenges of our time.
Democracy is something we do. Part of defending democracy in this time of American autocracy and ascendant fascism will mean doing things in one’s own immediate community that on the surface do not look like “politics." This will be a very long struggle and not one measured in a few years or one election cycle.
It’s true that all politics is local, and over the next few years, I expect we’ll see a lot more young people taking action at the community level to address the issues that they feel are overlooked by our leaders in Washington. People can do amazing things when they come together.
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I can speak from firsthand experience about the impact of community organizing. When I was 22, I helped launch the Hartford Youth Peace Initiative in Connecticut, a nonprofit to provide a safety net and educational support to youth. I came out of a community with only a 56 percent high school graduation rate. We had more people living in public housing per capita than any other city in the country. This was a time – and a community – that was very economically disenfranchised and over-policed. We weren’t getting help from adults or elected leaders, so we took action and got organized. We saw that there were not enough social programs, so we fundraised and built programming to help young people improve their education. This is democracy in action, people organizing to yield power and make positive change. This work wasn’t unique. It happens to this day in communities all around the country and it requires investment.
Is Donald Trump a populist? Is MAGA a populist movement?
In short, yes. Trump is a populist. He has the ability to speak to broad voter anger and voters are very angry. They feel like the system doesn’t work, so they’re willing to put their trust in someone who speaks to that anger. However, grassroots organizing was created to empower everyday people, the kind of folks who don’t have a lobbyist fighting for their interests in Washington. The MAGA movement has hijacked the traditional tactics of grassroots organizing but used it to advance an agenda that serves our country’s richest citizens.
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If we’re going to defend democracy and unite an electoral majority behind important policies in D.C. and in states across the country, we need to meet people where they are and address the issues that impact them most acutely every day. Some of the most common issues are affordability, access to healthcare, safety, freedom of expression and so much more. Too often, political leaders fall into the trap of lecturing their constituents when they should actually be on the ground, in their communities, listening to people talk about their problems.
Using the exact same strategies from the last time Trump was in power will likely not be effective given how he has expanded his base of support, has professionalized and expanded his attack on democracy, the country’s institutions and the rule of law and has the Supreme Court, almost literally, in his back pocket.
The next four years will look a lot different than the last Trump administration. However, the president-elect is still fundamentally the same person he was when he was elected in 2016, even if he has a more professional operation around him. We can learn a lot from the first term and shouldn’t repeat the mistakes of the past as we work through these next four years. A few high-level lessons, 1) criticize the politician and/or the policy, but not the voters, 2) don’t get so lost in fact-checking that you amplify the president-elect’s lies to a larger audience 3) focus on bringing people together around issues where we agree and 4) make it plain and simple for people to understand the impact of issues on them and their lives and why they should care.
The right-wing and “conservatives” and other actors spent decades building the parallel organizations, institutions, media, think tanks, interest groups, the Christian Right, finance, business and other means to work the levers of power to shape public opinion and power and to set the stage for Trumpism and to roll back the country to the Gilded Age. The liberals, progressives, Democrats, “the Left" and those others who believe in real democracy did not do that work. What can the Resistance and others who want to help defend and renew American democracy learn from the opposition?
The GOP was much better at using non-traditional media spaces to reach voters in 2024, and politicians on both sides of the aisle have fully embraced the power of podcasts and Substack as a means of mass communication.
In general, I think legacy media as a whole needs to do a better job of reaching people. For many voters, the intervention of Jeff Bezos in The Washington Post’s endorsement decision was deeply concerning. So many great papers and networks have shuttered, consolidated, or been bought out by billionaires. Over the next four years, I’d encourage folks to really focus on identifying independent newsrooms, responsible voices on social media and new platforms to communicate and build new coalitions.
Much media attention and that of the engaged public has been focused on Project 2025 for example. But Project 2025 is just one part of a much larger revolutionary project by the American right to remake society in their vision. What are some of the other initiatives and projects that you and your colleagues are monitoring?
While all eyes are on Trump and the imminent threats of Project 2025 and Agenda 47’s egregious policies, we must not lose sight of the democracy denialist threats playing out in state legislatures and city halls across the country. These hyper-local policies will have massive implications for our democratic processes.
Take a look at the Allison Riggs-Jefferson Griffin race for state Supreme Court in North Carolina. Griffin, the Republican candidate and North Carolina appellate judge, lost the race to Democratic Supreme Court incumbent Allison Riggs. He lost by just over 700 votes, with over five million ballots cast. The Republican Party is demanding that 60,000 lawfully cast ballots get thrown out despite two recounts and weeks of litigation — an attempt to silence voters and interfere in North Carolina’s democratic election system. This challenge disenfranchises voters and calls the entire state’s election system into question. A Republican-controlled Supreme Court in North Carolina will now decide the winner of the race, which could create a dangerous precedent for other state legislatures.
It is not just partisan battles we should keep a close eye on but also inaction from lame-duck legislatures that failed to codify voter protections for disenfranchised voters before leaving office.
I also think that we have to pay close attention to the role of billionaires and corporations in our government and how they are influencing policy, elections and our courts. Far too many of our elected officials, and even a few Supreme Court Justices, are — dare I say — being bought and paid for by those whose very interests are not aligned with the American people. While this is not new, this level of corruption is at an all-time high and we cannot look away. The role that money has in politics has gotten so out of control that we now have people questioning if Donald Trump is just a proxy for Elon Musk. That’s both sad and embarrassing for our country.
What will it require for the Democrats and other mainstream political actors, including the news media, to adopt a posture of being the opposition? I have deep worries that the Democratic Party, given its present leadership, is even capable of operating in that manner.
The country is very polarized right now. But when you remove the parties, there’s broad consensus on a lot of issues. People want the same things — they want to earn a living, to have freedom over their bodies, to have access to adequate healthcare and to live free from fear or intimidation. These are universal values shared by a broad spectrum of voters. These are values that both parties should be holding sacred while looking for real solutions.
Remember, a lot of the people who voted for Bernie Sanders also voted for Donald Trump. We must hold both parties accountable and realize that we must save ourselves, no political party or politician is going to do that for us.
What is the role of big money and moneyed interests in Trump 2.0?
Well, the President-elect has accepted millions and millions of dollars from CEOs and billionaires to fund his inauguration and pay off his campaign’s debts. Additionally, the new cabinet has over 20 billionaires in it to date. It’s fascinating because the involvement of elite corporate interests has been a Republican talking point used to critique the Democratic party, but the same standard does not exist for Trump’s administration. This needs to be addressed.
There’s an expression: tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are. When the President-elect is surrounding himself with billionaire donors and tech leaders, he is separating himself from the American people, especially the middle and working class. When the founder of SpaceX is put in charge of regulating NASA, you have a serious conflict of interest.
What do you want to prepare the American people for in these weeks and months ahead?
We will see injustice. We will see inequity, oppression and unjust laws. This is not new in America. However, for many, this is the first time you will have experienced this for yourself. Be reminded that far too many have experienced these things their entire lives. It is okay to feel sadness, anger and even despair, but you cannot sit in it. Use those emotions as motivation to be part of the change. Find ways to engage and be in community with others. There, you will find the inspiration you need. There, you will find joy and hope – both of which are active forms of resistance.
A few years ago, I was arrested with the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. We were engaging in civil disobedience with the Black Women’s Roundtable protesting at the Senate in an effort to get them to eliminate the filibuster so we could pass voting rights legislation. She was one of my cellmates. As we sat in our cell talking, she said, “Isn’t this great?” I responded, “Isn’t what great? Being in jail?” She responded, “Yes. How fortunate are we that we get the honor and the blessing of doing this work for so many people?” Perspective. Even in a jail cell, she took pleasure in doing something that just might make people’s lives better. We didn’t win that battle, but we both left that day knowing that we had done our part – with joy, to fight another day. There will always be another day and one day, we will win.
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