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WaPo / Jen Rubin: Opinion - Trump won, but green shoots rise in the road ahead
WaPo / Jen Rubin - Opinion - Trump won, but green shoots rise in the road ahead (Gift article)
There is still room for resistance against Trump’s excesses. Plus: Biden’s legacy. When words fail.
By Jennifer Rubin
November 8, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. EST
This week, I look ahead to the challenges we all face, recognize a distinguished person of the week and share a musical tribute.
What caught my eye
Despondency is a natural reaction to a nation that seems to have gone off the rails and rejected the very values that have imbued it with greatness. However, there are opportunities and green shoots that may provide a source for resistance — if not counterreaction — against the excesses of the incoming administration.
First, most abortion bans have proved to be absolute failures, political nightmares for their backers and undeniable threats to women’s lives. It is no coincidence that the majority of state measures to preserve or reassert the right to abortion access passed even in a Republican wave. There is now a bipartisan coalition against forced-birth extremism. That political force can be enlisted to retain protections for women’s health and lives and to preserve not only abortion access but also access to IVF and contraception.
Second, although President-elect Donald Trump enters office with a groundswell of support, he is an immediate lame duck. His ambitious and ruthless running mate, Vice President-elect JD Vance, will be seeking to carve his own legacy and garner a base of support distinct from his boss. The conflict between a president desperate for approval and a vice president beholden to extreme ideologues will play out over the next four years. If Trump is less willing to engage in controversial steps that might galvanize a backlash, the differences that arise between Trump and Vance may create opportunities for the opposition.
Third, even in the Trump era, facts are stubborn things. He will have to pass a budget, protect our national security, prevent a recession, guard against a trade war, deal with opposition against his proposed abrogation of civil liberties, contend with irate business leaders who object to extremism and instability, and confront health crises and natural disasters. If he cannot do those basic things, he and his administration will be a failure no matter how strong the rhetoric or how insular the right-wing media. Americans must hold him accountable for the results of his policies and actions.
/snip
There is still room for resistance against Trump’s excesses. Plus: Biden’s legacy. When words fail.
By Jennifer Rubin
November 8, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. EST
This week, I look ahead to the challenges we all face, recognize a distinguished person of the week and share a musical tribute.
What caught my eye
Despondency is a natural reaction to a nation that seems to have gone off the rails and rejected the very values that have imbued it with greatness. However, there are opportunities and green shoots that may provide a source for resistance — if not counterreaction — against the excesses of the incoming administration.
First, most abortion bans have proved to be absolute failures, political nightmares for their backers and undeniable threats to women’s lives. It is no coincidence that the majority of state measures to preserve or reassert the right to abortion access passed even in a Republican wave. There is now a bipartisan coalition against forced-birth extremism. That political force can be enlisted to retain protections for women’s health and lives and to preserve not only abortion access but also access to IVF and contraception.
Second, although President-elect Donald Trump enters office with a groundswell of support, he is an immediate lame duck. His ambitious and ruthless running mate, Vice President-elect JD Vance, will be seeking to carve his own legacy and garner a base of support distinct from his boss. The conflict between a president desperate for approval and a vice president beholden to extreme ideologues will play out over the next four years. If Trump is less willing to engage in controversial steps that might galvanize a backlash, the differences that arise between Trump and Vance may create opportunities for the opposition.
Third, even in the Trump era, facts are stubborn things. He will have to pass a budget, protect our national security, prevent a recession, guard against a trade war, deal with opposition against his proposed abrogation of civil liberties, contend with irate business leaders who object to extremism and instability, and confront health crises and natural disasters. If he cannot do those basic things, he and his administration will be a failure no matter how strong the rhetoric or how insular the right-wing media. Americans must hold him accountable for the results of his policies and actions.
/snip
Jen Rubin
In the years ahead, Democrats should look forward to a new cast of Democratic leaders, including Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, JB Pritzker of Illinois, (newly elected) Josh Stein of North Carolina and Maura Healey of Massachusetts. They will be responsible not only for governing their states but also leading the resistance against federal overreach and repression. https://wapo.st/3Z0Xi2c
10:03 AM · Nov 8, 2024
In the years ahead, Democrats should look forward to a new cast of Democratic leaders, including Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, JB Pritzker of Illinois, (newly elected) Josh Stein of North Carolina and Maura Healey of Massachusetts. They will be responsible not only for governing their states but also leading the resistance against federal overreach and repression. https://wapo.st/3Z0Xi2c
10:03 AM · Nov 8, 2024
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