Successfully resisting Trump will take more than relying on elections and the governing process. The electoral process is too infrequent, overly dependent on candidates, and inconsistent in fulfilling the goals of voters. Too many people are relying on the electoral process to restore our democracy because it requires fewer sacrifices and is not fraught with danger. If we want to restore our democracy, however, we must build a social movement.
Despite the importance of elections to democracy, their effectiveness in resisting and overcoming authoritarian takeovers of democracies is limited. They reflect the will of the voters but cannot ensure that what those voters want is carried out. More importantly, elections may not be free and fair in 2026. Undermining voting rights further imperils the efforts to gerrymander districts, restrict access to polling places, limit mail-in voting, and purge voter rolls, which intentionally affect marginalized communities, silencing voices already underrepresented in the political process. These tactics, defended under the guise of election integrity, instead serve to entrench power and diminish the legitimacy of outcomes, fueling cynicism and disengagement among the electorate.
Elections Are Vulnerable
Whether elections will be free and fair is especially questionable. (Elections in the U.S. have all been subject to some level of gerrymandering, vote suppression, and other forms of vote rigging since the first elections were held here. Here, I mean elections that are not generally considered so rigged as to be outside the norm.) Trump was found guilty of conspiring to withhold information that could have hurt his 2016presidential campaign. In 2020, Trump was indicted for defrauding the U.S. and obstructing an official proceeding by obstructing the Congressional certification process for the president. F(This case was never tried.) There has also been a growing drumbeat of questions about the fairness of the 2024 election. Considering the lengths to which Trump has previously gone to maintain power, it is certainly likely that he would be willing to subvert free and fair elections in 2026 and 2028.
The vulnerability of elections has become even more pronounced since Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” was signed into law. This legislation increases the funding for the Department of Homeland Security by $165 billion over the next 10 years. Over $4 billion is earmarked to hire 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. ICE agents identify, arrest, and remove individuals who are unlawfully present in the U.S. Under certain circumstances, ICE agents can arrest individuals without a warrant, and unlike other customs agents, they are not limited to border areas. Under the best of circumstances, hiring that many new law enforcement agents in a short period will almost certainly result in the employment of personnel who should not be employed. It is not much of a stretch of the imagination to envision these agents being used to suppress the vote.
When Democrats Lead
Even if Democrats win the House and Senate in 2026, they may not be able to correct or undo the policies that Trump and his supporters have implemented. Instead, Democrats may persist in maintaining policies they believe have widespread public support, even if the public does not fully understand the effects of those policies. Such policies are said to lie within what is referred to as the Overton Window, a model of the prevalence of policies in the public’s mind. Policies that lack broad support are said to lie outside the Overton Window. Although the Overton Window can expand or shrink, these shifts are not the result of policymakers but due to changes in the norms and values of the people who must support policies. Politicians and policymakers are reluctant to advocate for policies that lie outside of the Overton Window. Democratic politicians and policymakers have been quite reticent in defining the Overton Window as anything other than a Republican concept. Now, if Democrats get power, they need to save the nation. They need to be aggressive about Democratic values and not be restrained by the need to build support for those values.
Who the Democrats Choose As Leaders
The very nature of elections places too much emphasis on candidates rather than the conditions. Trump has proven himself to be a charismatic leader. He has used the trappings of populism to disguise his allegiance to the oligarchy. His capture of the Republican Party and ascension to the presidency depended, in large part, on the displacement of millions of Americans from the middle class. Trump’s electoral success followed Republican voters’ disillusionment with George W. Bush’s Middle East wars, the Tea Party rebellion against the elite, and the failure of the party to exert its power against “liberalism.” Democrats, on the other hand, have failed to say what they are for. They have seemed so fearful of offending one or another group of voters that they have been unable to articulate clearly what they stand for. Now, after having lost the 2024 election, an election they should have won, many congressional Democrats have adopted the strategy of waiting for Trump’s mistakes and incompetence to alienate the voters on the one hand and hoping to find a charismatic leader on the other hand.
Democrats need to change their fundamental approach to defeating what has become a fascist Republican Party. Even if Democrats find a charismatic leader to run against Trump, the Republican disinformation machine will make every effort to hide any of Trump’s missteps. It assumes that the voters will view any of the country’s problems as the result of the leader’s incompetence or mismanagement. Many voters, even those outside of Trump’s base, did not blame him for mishandling the pandemic in his first term. Suppose Democrats focus too much on finding a charismatic leader. In that case, they are also likely to pin their hopes for victory on selecting just the right candidate; they may ignore other issues that are malleable in a political contest. Some Democratic strategists have already expressed their preference for a young, and presumably, inexperienced politician to be the Democratic presidential candidate.
Despite the intent of the Democratic establishment to run another campaign like the one they lost to a convicted felon, albeit by less than two points. The notion that Republican incompetence and corruption will result in voters supporting Democrats is a fantasy. The disapproval registered by voters against some of Trump's more egregious actions does not mean that those voters will support Democrats. At best, public opinion disapproval implies that voters have not bought into the lies the Republican noise machine is spewing out about how positive those actions are. Which levers voters pull in the voting both will depend on the sum of many different pluses and minuses, including the alternative candidates. This strategy presupposes that voters will be exposed to information about Trump’s incompetence and corruption. Some policies will not be fully implemented by Trump immediately, and the mainstream media has been cowed. Additionally, the notion of a younger candidate willing to appear on Gen Z podcasts seems extraordinarily insufficient. In the same vein, some strategists are saying that only a centrist Democrat can compete against what they see as the conservative trend that Trump’s election signified. These Democratic strategists are ignoring the extent to which a populist and anti-establishment sentiment fueled Trump’s accession and 2024 win. It is time for the Democratic centrists to acknowledge that their leadership of the party has not been effective, and their continued reluctance to support a more progressive agenda will result in continued failure. The unwillingness of centrists to coalesce with factions to their left has resulted in fascist takeovers in other countries.
Defeating Fascism Requires A Long-Term Movement
Regardless of whether all factions of the Democratic Party and political independents coalesce and win in 2026 and 2028, fascism will not be defeated in this country by two favorable elections. Getting rid of Trump is not enough either. It will take a democratic movement to defeat U.S. fascism. Some people believe that if they ignore politics, do their job, watch the big game on television, and take care of their families, everything will work out. They are wrong. The quality of life for everyone, except those in the top 1 percent, is likely to deteriorate. We cannot continue to rely solely on political parties for help. Political parties seek to gain power within the government structure. We need a movement that focuses on promoting social change, raising awareness about social issues, and shaping public opinion. A democratic movement cannot be limited to the short-term electoral cycle. A democratic movement cannot be burdened with the distrust that many voters have in the Democratic and other political parties. The fight for democracy will be a protracted struggle.
A protracted struggle will be needed to restore our democracy. This struggle, like most efforts to restore democracy, has begun slowly and will require time to build momentum. This movement will encompass protests, civil resistance, strikes, and various other forms of nonviolent resistance. It will require training, organizing, and a coalition of diverse groups. The early labor movement and the civil rights movement are obvious models. But there are other nonviolent examples from around the world. Regardless of how long it takes to build this movement, we have the time. Now we need the people.
Despite the importance of elections to democracy, their effectiveness in resisting and overcoming authoritarian takeovers of democracies is limited. They reflect the will of the voters but cannot ensure that what those voters want is carried out. More importantly, elections may not be free and fair in 2026. Undermining voting rights further imperils the efforts to gerrymander districts, restrict access to polling places, limit mail-in voting, and purge voter rolls, which intentionally affect marginalized communities, silencing voices already underrepresented in the political process. These tactics, defended under the guise of election integrity, instead serve to entrench power and diminish the legitimacy of outcomes, fueling cynicism and disengagement among the electorate.
Elections Are Vulnerable
Whether elections will be free and fair is especially questionable. (Elections in the U.S. have all been subject to some level of gerrymandering, vote suppression, and other forms of vote rigging since the first elections were held here. Here, I mean elections that are not generally considered so rigged as to be outside the norm.) Trump was found guilty of conspiring to withhold information that could have hurt his 2016presidential campaign. In 2020, Trump was indicted for defrauding the U.S. and obstructing an official proceeding by obstructing the Congressional certification process for the president. F(This case was never tried.) There has also been a growing drumbeat of questions about the fairness of the 2024 election. Considering the lengths to which Trump has previously gone to maintain power, it is certainly likely that he would be willing to subvert free and fair elections in 2026 and 2028.
The vulnerability of elections has become even more pronounced since Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” was signed into law. This legislation increases the funding for the Department of Homeland Security by $165 billion over the next 10 years. Over $4 billion is earmarked to hire 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. ICE agents identify, arrest, and remove individuals who are unlawfully present in the U.S. Under certain circumstances, ICE agents can arrest individuals without a warrant, and unlike other customs agents, they are not limited to border areas. Under the best of circumstances, hiring that many new law enforcement agents in a short period will almost certainly result in the employment of personnel who should not be employed. It is not much of a stretch of the imagination to envision these agents being used to suppress the vote.
When Democrats Lead
Even if Democrats win the House and Senate in 2026, they may not be able to correct or undo the policies that Trump and his supporters have implemented. Instead, Democrats may persist in maintaining policies they believe have widespread public support, even if the public does not fully understand the effects of those policies. Such policies are said to lie within what is referred to as the Overton Window, a model of the prevalence of policies in the public’s mind. Policies that lack broad support are said to lie outside the Overton Window. Although the Overton Window can expand or shrink, these shifts are not the result of policymakers but due to changes in the norms and values of the people who must support policies. Politicians and policymakers are reluctant to advocate for policies that lie outside of the Overton Window. Democratic politicians and policymakers have been quite reticent in defining the Overton Window as anything other than a Republican concept. Now, if Democrats get power, they need to save the nation. They need to be aggressive about Democratic values and not be restrained by the need to build support for those values.
Who the Democrats Choose As Leaders
The very nature of elections places too much emphasis on candidates rather than the conditions. Trump has proven himself to be a charismatic leader. He has used the trappings of populism to disguise his allegiance to the oligarchy. His capture of the Republican Party and ascension to the presidency depended, in large part, on the displacement of millions of Americans from the middle class. Trump’s electoral success followed Republican voters’ disillusionment with George W. Bush’s Middle East wars, the Tea Party rebellion against the elite, and the failure of the party to exert its power against “liberalism.” Democrats, on the other hand, have failed to say what they are for. They have seemed so fearful of offending one or another group of voters that they have been unable to articulate clearly what they stand for. Now, after having lost the 2024 election, an election they should have won, many congressional Democrats have adopted the strategy of waiting for Trump’s mistakes and incompetence to alienate the voters on the one hand and hoping to find a charismatic leader on the other hand.
Democrats need to change their fundamental approach to defeating what has become a fascist Republican Party. Even if Democrats find a charismatic leader to run against Trump, the Republican disinformation machine will make every effort to hide any of Trump’s missteps. It assumes that the voters will view any of the country’s problems as the result of the leader’s incompetence or mismanagement. Many voters, even those outside of Trump’s base, did not blame him for mishandling the pandemic in his first term. Suppose Democrats focus too much on finding a charismatic leader. In that case, they are also likely to pin their hopes for victory on selecting just the right candidate; they may ignore other issues that are malleable in a political contest. Some Democratic strategists have already expressed their preference for a young, and presumably, inexperienced politician to be the Democratic presidential candidate.
Despite the intent of the Democratic establishment to run another campaign like the one they lost to a convicted felon, albeit by less than two points. The notion that Republican incompetence and corruption will result in voters supporting Democrats is a fantasy. The disapproval registered by voters against some of Trump's more egregious actions does not mean that those voters will support Democrats. At best, public opinion disapproval implies that voters have not bought into the lies the Republican noise machine is spewing out about how positive those actions are. Which levers voters pull in the voting both will depend on the sum of many different pluses and minuses, including the alternative candidates. This strategy presupposes that voters will be exposed to information about Trump’s incompetence and corruption. Some policies will not be fully implemented by Trump immediately, and the mainstream media has been cowed. Additionally, the notion of a younger candidate willing to appear on Gen Z podcasts seems extraordinarily insufficient. In the same vein, some strategists are saying that only a centrist Democrat can compete against what they see as the conservative trend that Trump’s election signified. These Democratic strategists are ignoring the extent to which a populist and anti-establishment sentiment fueled Trump’s accession and 2024 win. It is time for the Democratic centrists to acknowledge that their leadership of the party has not been effective, and their continued reluctance to support a more progressive agenda will result in continued failure. The unwillingness of centrists to coalesce with factions to their left has resulted in fascist takeovers in other countries.
Defeating Fascism Requires A Long-Term Movement
Regardless of whether all factions of the Democratic Party and political independents coalesce and win in 2026 and 2028, fascism will not be defeated in this country by two favorable elections. Getting rid of Trump is not enough either. It will take a democratic movement to defeat U.S. fascism. Some people believe that if they ignore politics, do their job, watch the big game on television, and take care of their families, everything will work out. They are wrong. The quality of life for everyone, except those in the top 1 percent, is likely to deteriorate. We cannot continue to rely solely on political parties for help. Political parties seek to gain power within the government structure. We need a movement that focuses on promoting social change, raising awareness about social issues, and shaping public opinion. A democratic movement cannot be limited to the short-term electoral cycle. A democratic movement cannot be burdened with the distrust that many voters have in the Democratic and other political parties. The fight for democracy will be a protracted struggle.
A protracted struggle will be needed to restore our democracy. This struggle, like most efforts to restore democracy, has begun slowly and will require time to build momentum. This movement will encompass protests, civil resistance, strikes, and various other forms of nonviolent resistance. It will require training, organizing, and a coalition of diverse groups. The early labor movement and the civil rights movement are obvious models. But there are other nonviolent examples from around the world. Regardless of how long it takes to build this movement, we have the time. Now we need the people.
