There is a tension in voter dynamics among people who oppose Trump. Some, politically and emotionally exhausted by Trump, hope that his defeat will lead to a return to normalcy; others are banking on substantive change in the wake of his ouster at the ballot box. Whoever among the Democratic presidential aspirants negotiates this tension in the most skillful way will have a leg up in the presidential primary. Here is where messaging and story telling become as much an art as a science.

Elijah Cummings: a man who combined unusual grace and generosity of spirit with fierce commitment to democracy. His presence and voice will be missed in these trying times..

The danger of the present moment is that Trump is without any political anchorage other than what goes on in his unstable, narcissistic, and impulsive head. To claim that he is a representative of the capitalist class or the voice of the most reactionary section of finance capital or bound by the strictures of the Republican Party seem inadequate in the moment. Whatever guardrails that might have restrained his behavior in the past seem to have disappeared. Marxism’s concept of “relative autonomy” of the executive branch of government is either finding confirmation or being severely tested. Or both!

Elizabeth Warren had a much tougher go of it last night; she was the target of others on the stage. She still did well, although she will have to do some more thinking about how she explains Medicare for all. One thing she demonstrated last night, as she fended off criticism, is that she can handle the glare of the lights. She’s a fighter and she’s tough.

I hear people on the left complain that the impeachment inquiry is too narrowly framed, not to their taste. I say look at public opinion polls. Millions apparently don’t agree. They’re increasingly ready to impeach Trump on the existing terms. Life doesn’t always fit the ideological scheme of the left.