It’s going to be a tough, hard slog for Democrats. They will need a Survival Guide for the Trump Years in the Oval Office. Democrat Strategist Ed Kilgore has provided them with one in the Intelligencer Magazine. Poor, pitiful slugs. I don’t remember anyone making a guide for Republicans during the Biden years. Which have been bloody awful. But, then Republicans will survive through anything. Hey, we made it through Barack Obama. Our swords were sharpened and our hearts and minds were rested. “Tanned, rested and ready” to quote Richard Nixon. Democrats don’t have the same wherewithal.

In a bid to be helpful to Democrats, Ed Kilgore of the Intelligencer has given them a Survival Guide “Democrats’ Five Strategies for Coping With Trump 2.0”. It’s gonna be a tough cope. Mr. Kilgore’s opening paragraph:

The reaction among Democrats to Donald Trump’s return to power has been significantly more subdued than what we saw in 2016 after the mogul’s first shocking electoral win. The resistance is dead, and it’s not clear what will replace it. But Democratic elected officials are developing new strategies for dealing with the new realities in Washington. Here are five distinct approaches that have emerged, even before Trump’s second inauguration.

The resistance is a lot different than 2017. Hopefully there won’t be any pussy hats or Madonna dreaming of blowing up the White House this time:

Madonna admitted that she "thought about blowing up the White House" and was cheered. Let that sink in for a minute. Merica. pic.twitter.com/gaCtTvwiOa

— Cloyd Rivers (@CloydRivers) January 22, 2017

Then there are the five copes:

If you can’t beat ’em, (partially) join ’em

Kilgore uses John Fetterman of Pennsylvania as an example:

Some Democrats are so thoroughly impressed by the current power of the MAGA movement they are choosing to surrender to it in significant respects. The prime example is Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, the onetime fiery populist politician who is now becoming conspicuous in his desire to admit his party’s weaknesses and snuggle up to the new regime. The freshman and one-time ally of Bernie Sanders has been drifting away from the left wing of his party for a good while, particularly via his vocally unconditional backing for Israel during its war in Gaza. But now he’s making news regularly for accommodating steps in Trump’s direction.

Oops. Sorry. This is survival for Fetterman. If Pennsylvania were truly blue, Fetterman wouldn’t be kind to MAGA. He wants to be reelected. He is not stupid.

Join ’em (very selectively) to beat ’em

Other Democrats are being much more selectively friendly to Trump, searching for “common ground” on issues where they believe he will be cross-pressured by his wealthy backers and more conventional Republicans. Like Fetterman, these Democrats — including Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren — tend to come from the progressive wing of the party and have longed chafed at the centrist economic policies advanced by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and, to some extent, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. They’ve talked about strategically encouraging Trump’s “populist” impulses on such issues as credit-card interest and big-tech regulation, partly as a matter of forcing the new president and his congressional allies to put up or shut up.

I haven’t seen this. Elizabeth Warren is being EXTRA ugly.

Roll over if you care to, Liz, but please shut up.

Aim at the dead center

As ominous as that sounds, it’s really about winning back the center that Harris lost. Did Harris lose them or did Trump win them? If Trump won them, we need to persuade them to stay with us.

Cut a few deals to mitigate the damage

Kilgore writes:

We’re beginning to see the emergence of a faction of Democrats who are willing to cut policy or legislative deals with Team Trump in order to protect some vulnerable constituencies from MAGA wrath. This is particularly visible on the immigration front; some congressional Democrats are talking about cutting a deal to support some of Trump’s agenda in exchange for continued protection from deportation of DREAMers.

That DREAMers thing always bothered me. Free in-state tuition for the children of illegal immigrants. What makes them DREAMers? I am a DREAMer too.

Republicans shouldn’t cut any deals with the Democrats.

Hang tough and aim for a Democratic comeback

From the article:

While the Democrats planning strategic cooperation with Trump are getting a lot of attention, it’s clear the bulk of elected officials and activists are more quietly waiting for the initial fallout from the new regime to develop while planning ahead for a Democratic comeback. This is particularly true among the House Democratic leadership, which hopes to exploit the extremely narrow Republican majority in the chamber (which will be exacerbated by vacancies for several months until Trump appointees can be replaced in special elections) on must-pass House votes going forward, while looking ahead with a plan to aggressively contest marginal Republican-held seats in the 2026 midterms. Historical precedents indicate very high odds that Democrats can flip the House in 2026, bringing to a relatively quick end to any Republican legislative steamroller on Trump’s behalf and signaling good vibes for 2028.

This is the most important part for Republicans. We cannot rest on our laurels for five minutes. Tick the boxes and knock off the to do list. STAT.

Featured Image: Grok/X/cropped/Public Domain