Bounce back with ideas after Election Day

On Wednesday, the Washington Monthly had its regular weekly Zoom meeting for all employees. It felt like the citizens of a small town were gathering in the square after a night of air raids. People were disoriented, nervous and looked at the rubble in disbelief. I started the meeting by saying I wasn’t going to downplay how “very, very, very bad” the situation is. But I’ve also found that the most important lesson I’ve learned in my life – which, at 65, has included many miserable election results and a generous helping of personal loss – is that devastating events create opportunities. This is not happy talk. It’s reality. But it’s hard to see right now.

The American people have given Donald Trump ultimate power. You will understand the Trump agenda well and clearly. There’s not much anyone can do to stop it. It’s terrible to think about. This will be painful to go through. There is also an opportunity here.

There is a heated debate — in homes and offices, in the press and on social media — about why Trump and his MAGA allies did so well and Kamala Harris and her party so poorly. Everyone has a theory. Were the Democrats too woke or not progressive enough? Would it have made a big difference if Joe Biden had decided not to run sooner? Was any Democratic candidate doomed in the face of inflation, or did Biden and Harris have a good story they weren’t telling about their administration’s aggressive fight against the monopolized industries that are the root cause of higher prices?

These questions are being debated as more and better data becomes available about how different parts of the electorate voted and why they voted the way they did. We will contribute to these discussions to give the Democratic Party and the broader center-left some of the radical openness they need to hear.

But while it is crucial to accurately diagnose the problem, it is also important to identify which policy and policy ideas can best address these problems. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer media outlets are even trying these days.

Not like that Washington Monthly. Our goal is to scan the horizon for new ideas that can solve the country’s most pressing problems.

That may sound naive, considering that Trump and his movement will keep the executive branch, the Senate, possibly the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court in check. But here’s the thing. When parties get so much power, they become overconfident. They are taking steps that horrify the same public that elected them. That was George W. Bush’s fate in 2005 when he tried to privatize Social Security. The same thing happened with Donald Trump when he botched the government’s response to the pandemic.

Trump 2.0 will likely make America worse in a variety of areas: immigration, taxes, energy, education, trade, healthcare, public health, etc. A principled opposition needs well-thought-out policy ideas and policies that are ready to exploit its mistakes and repair everything he breaks.

In the dark winter that followed Trump’s 2016 election victory, we offered three big ideas for what Democrats should do. Anne Kim argued for a legislative strategy of “coopposition,” in which party leaders in Congress use their political capital by having their members work with the GOP majority on a wide range of legislation but impose unified opposition when it matters most – a strategy that was helpful Democrats took back the House of Representatives in 2018. Phil Keisling argued that Democrats should put mail-in voting at the center of their electoral strategy, and when they did so (fueled by the pandemic) in 2020, they arguably won the election. And Barry Lynn argued that Democrats should make antimonopoly and the freedom it promises the core of their economic strategy, an idea that congressional leaders soon embraced and that Joe Biden implemented as president.

So you’ll be reading a lot about new political and political ideas on these pages over the next few weeks and months.

It’s okay to grieve what was lost on Election Day. It is critical to combat the mudslide of bad and mendacious ideas that is sweeping the nation. But none of it matters without a vision for a better America and concrete, well-thought-out ideas to make it happen.

The truth is that there aren’t many other magazines that put politics at the heart of their mission. Heck, there aren’t even many think tanks producing sensible liberal ideas to promote upward mobility, reduce income inequality, and make government work.

I told my team on Wednesday that it was a bit strange for me to talk so optimistically in this very dark moment, and it’s not that I don’t understand the gravity of the situation. But with tragedy comes opportunity, and this magazine’s mission is to provide the American people with ideas they can use when opportunity presents itself.

Since you are reading this, I will assume that you agree and may want to be part of this effort. You can help by sending our stories to friends, family, and everyone in your network. You can also support us financially. We are a nonprofit organization and rely on the support of donors like you. We need you to be a part of it. Now. You can donate to it Washington Monthly Here. If you donate $50 or more, we’ll send you a free print subscription to the magazine. It will help us carry on in this dangerous time.

Thank you very much.

Related