Trump will soon be in the White House, Republicans as of last week control Congress, and the Supreme Court by the spring will be back in possession of right wing extremists. A similar situation is found in a majority of states. And the power and reach of the right doesn’t end here.
Our side, on the other hand, has a well spring of political, cultural, media, and people resources and experience as well as the majority of voters who cast their ballot for Hillary Clinton in the election (and many more who didn’t vote at all) to prosecute our struggles. But our political and organizational capacities don’t match our adversaries at this moment.
We have our hands on some levers of power that we should utilize (witness the actions of Governor Cuomo of New York and Governor Brown of California in recent weeks), but far, far fewer than the other side. This can and will change. And hopefully sooner than any of us think, as each of us in our own way contributes to assembling a broad and diverse small “d” democratic coalition that includes the Democratic Party exercising a major influence in any realistic casting of this far fling and loose coalition.
The main terrain of struggle will pivot around the defense of democracy and democratic rights. And, where possible their expansion.
It is against this, but not only this, background that the women’s march in DC and cities around the country takes on such importance in less than two weeks. I can’t think of a better way to begin a difficult journey.
