When I watched Trump’s first observations downplaying, if not dismissing, the coronavirus, I couldn’t help but remember then president George Bush peering down from Air Force 1 on the hurricane devastated city of New Orleans. That optic sent Bush’s popularity plummeting and not only because of his seeming indifference. It also suggested an incompetence in the face of a human crisis of extraordinary proportions.

The obvious incompetence and callousness of Trump so far in addressing this dangerous virus could undo Trump in much the same way. Time will tell.

When asked about the fractious presidential primary, Nancy Pelosi says her gospel is unity, unity, unity. Pelosi told reporters, “The presidential is its own race, and contrary to what you may be hearing or writing, we are all unified. Whoever the nominee is of our party, we will wholeheartedly support.” And when asked if she would be comfortable with Sanders at the top of the ticket, she said, without hesitation, “Yes.”

Let’s hope her message is embraced by the rest of the party and its presidential candidates.

In the current primary contest, the left should act like the grown up in the room. It shouldn’t be drawn into a food fight at the slightest provocation. Its accent should be on unity and turning down the temperature.

When asked about Castro and the Cuban Revolution, Bernie would be well served if he pivoted to making a case for the resumption of diplomatic, economic, and cultural relations with Cuba that began under President Obama. I, for one, don’t expect him to make the argument for the merits of the Cuban Revolution.

1. At the core of any winning strategy to defend and expand democracy are alliances that draw together multiple social constituencies of varied size, interests, and political capacity. Go it alone strategies are a time proven recipe for defeat. The drivers of white nationalist authoritarianism understand this fact quite well, and act accordingly. We should as well.

2. When our democracy is under sustained and unprecedented assault at the hands of Trump and his accomplices, the role of the left isn’t so much to remind people of the limitations of “bourgeois” democracy. Most people are aware of that reality. It is, instead, to alert them of the existential danger to “our” democracy that Trump presents.

3. Our democracy isn’t simply the handiwork of architects sitting in high places of power and working their magic since the country’s founding. It is also the creation of people in low places leveraging their numbers, diversity, vision, and unity to defend and deepen “our” democracy.

4. The titans of industry and finance, to be sure, have benefited from Trump’s policies. But it doesn’t follow that everyone of them is happy with his presidency. Not only Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer would prefer someone else sitting in the White House. Others do as well. We should welcome their opposition to Trump’s brand of authoritarian anti-democratic rule, even if their motivations and aims are different than ours.