Is Trump the best thing to happen to the left in recent years?

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

Trump has appeared to embolden the left, as we can see from rising membership numbers for the DSA, SPUSA, and even the CPUSA, and the YUGE jump for Democrats in the Virginia lower house. This all begs the question, is Trump the best thing to happen to the left? Not just liberals, but progressives and democratic socialists as well.

Edit: I mean electorally. Has Trump helped the left electorally so much that it could be seen as the best thing to happen to them in years?

[Cactus Jack]

No doubt. Not only is he hysterically incompetent, his titanic unpopularity can only help Democrats swing back into relevance next year after eight years of fairly dire congressional losses. It's already happening.

[Koharu]

Sadly, yes. Republicans stonewalled during Obama's administration, and Obama got the blame. They would have done the same during a Clinton presidency, which in turn would have given them more ammunition to keep control of the legislative branch while blaming the lack of action on the president.

Any Republican president would have shown the Republicans'true colors, but Trump has forced them to show just how corrupt and filled with avarice they are. The blow-back will be huge, whereas the response to a President Rubio or Kasich would be nowhere near extreme enough to toss majorities to the Dems, as I hope to see happening in the coming years.

I can't say this may have been the best outcome because people have already had their lives impacted in horrible ways, but I do think this will give Democrats a chance to be real leaders sooner rather than later. They just need to be ready and not blow that chance.

[Stranger in a strange land]

If he helps us beat Lyin' Ted and Motormouth Marsha, Hillary losing would be entirely worth it.

Yes, better to have Trump as president for 4 years than Lyin' Ted in the Senate for 30 or more.

[mvd10]

- Tax reform which will make America GREAT again and create a lot of jobs for left-wing millennials? CHECK
- Freeing the internet which left-wing millennials love from commie regulations? CHECK
- Reforming welfare so millennials won't have to pay our debts? CHECK (not yet done, but will happen. It's gonna be huge. So huge)
- Protecting people's healthcare from mean Republicans? CHECK
- Repealing the most important part of Obamacare? CHECK
- Repealing the most burdensome communist financial regulations which hurt our small businesses? CHECK
- Taking a stand against globalist Wall Street? CHECK

Yeah, he's the greatest thing to ever happen to all of the US (including your wonderful left-wingers, great people). He will only be surpassed by me after I become a billionaire by introducing the frikandel to America !

[TheSaint250]

He’s the left’s Obama.

Except this time the Democrats could very well win the Senate majority the first time around instead of waiting four years more

[junior chįmp]

Problem is Democrats are terrible at sustaining victories. If they regain both houses in 2018, Democrats need to go after Trump and ruin his life while legislating things of substance they know Trump will veto

[America's Sweetheart ❤/𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕭𝖔𝖔𝖙𝖞 𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖗]

- Tax reform which will make America GREAT again and create a lot of jobs for left-wing millennials? CHECK
- Freeing the internet which left-wing millennials love from commie regulations? CHECK
- Reforming welfare so millennials won't have to pay our debts? CHECK (not yet done, but will happen. It's gonna be huge. So huge)
- Protecting people's healthcare from mean Republicans? CHECK
- Repealing the most important part of Obamacare? CHECK
- Repealing the most burdensome communist financial regulations which hurt our small businesses? CHECK
- Taking a stand against globalist Wall Street? CHECK

Yeah, he's the greatest thing to ever happen to all of the US (including your wonderful left-wingers, great people). He will only be surpassed by me after I become a billionaire by introducing the frikandel to America !

I can't tell whether this is satire or not.

[mvd10]

- Tax reform which will make America GREAT again and create a lot of jobs for left-wing millennials? CHECK
- Freeing the internet which left-wing millennials love from commie regulations? CHECK
- Reforming welfare so millennials won't have to pay our debts? CHECK (not yet done, but will happen. It's gonna be huge. So huge)
- Protecting people's healthcare from mean Republicans? CHECK
- Repealing the most important part of Obamacare? CHECK
- Repealing the most burdensome communist financial regulations which hurt our small businesses? CHECK
- Taking a stand against globalist Wall Street? CHECK

Yeah, he's the greatest thing to ever happen to all of the US (including your wonderful left-wingers, great people). He will only be surpassed by me after I become a billionaire by introducing the frikandel to America !

I can't tell whether this is satire or not.

War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength

I've learned to love Yuge Donald. No, I have always loved Yuge Donald. I'm happy now. I'm at peace.

[publicunofficial]

Problem is Democrats are terrible at sustaining victories. If they regain both houses in 2018, Democrats need to go after Trump and ruin his life while legislating things of substance they know Trump will veto

-Democrats take Congress in 2018
-White House in 2020
-Dems continue to pass the same watered-down, "bipartisan compromise" legislation that fails to help anyone in a tangible way that defined Obama's presidency.
-Barron Trump elected President.

I'm already resigned to it IMO

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

I think Obama winning in ‘08 and ‘12 were just as, if not more, important. If you haven’t noticed, a lot of the debates regarding major issues are happening on progressive terms, such as healthcare and immigration. Barack Obama moved us left, just as Reagan moved us to the right. He reshaped the conversation.

[darklordoftech]

I think Obama winning in ‘08 and ‘12 were just as, if not more, important. If you haven’t noticed, a lot of the debates regarding major issues are happening on progressive terms, such as healthcare and immigration. Barack Obama moved us left, just as Reagan moved us to the right. He reshaped the conversation.

https://youtube.com/watch?t=11s&v=H6f4tZFZ_-g

I think the Berniecrats are people who voted for Obama in the 2008 primaries and when 2016 came around, they thought, "There's a reason we didn't vote for Hillary in 2008".

[junior chįmp]

Problem is Democrats are terrible at sustaining victories. If they regain both houses in 2018, Democrats need to go after Trump and ruin his life while legislating things of substance they know Trump will veto

-Democrats take Congress in 2018
-White House in 2020
-Dems continue to pass the same watered-down, "bipartisan compromise" legislation that fails to help anyone in a tangible way that defined Obama's presidency.
-Barron Trump elected President.

I'm already resigned to it IMO

Yeah, I'm worried about this too

[HisGrace]

Well, he won, so I would have to say no.

[Rookie Yinzer]

Yes.

Once the Democrats get back in control, they need to cut the bullsh**t and stop trying to work with and cater to Republicans. I also hope there is a mass exodus of SCOTUS judges and we get to stack the courts while Republicans fume on the sidelines.

[TDAS04]

Signs are that Trump’s victory is great for Democrats in the long-run, as terrible as the whole thing initially felt.  The 2016 elections results definitely seem to have been a wake up call for the left to not be complacent, and even the small number of election results from this year are (hopefully and probably) good indicators of what will happen next year.

[Santander]

He's the first left-of-center President since Jimmy Carter, so yes.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

Not with all the federal judges he's appointing. If another SCOTUS appointment comes up the Democrats are screwed.

[uti2]

Sadly, yes. Republicans stonewalled during Obama's administration, and Obama got the blame. They would have done the same during a Clinton presidency, which in turn would have given them more ammunition to keep control of the legislative branch while blaming the lack of action on the president.

Any Republican president would have shown the Republicans'true colors, but Trump has forced them to show just how corrupt and filled with avarice they are. The blow-back will be huge, whereas the response to a President Rubio or Kasich would be nowhere near extreme enough to toss majorities to the Dems, as I hope to see happening in the coming years.

I can't say this may have been the best outcome because people have already had their lives impacted in horrible ways, but I do think this will give Democrats a chance to be real leaders sooner rather than later. They just need to be ready and not blow that chance.

Rubio & Kasich are nothing alike. Rubio would've pushed all the same right-wing legislation on his own terms, without trying to compromise. Rubio is closer to Cruz than Kasich. Kasich would've attempted to meet Democrats half-way on a number of proposals they like.

[uti2]

^Also, I will point out that all the other republicans (besides Huckabee) were stringent advocates of entitlement cuts.

[ProudModerate2]

Nothing (no gain/advantage) is worth the destruction of our society and our world standing.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I'll reserve judgment until January 21, 2021.

[BlueSwan]

When it comes to winning political elections, sure.  When it comes to the damage done to progressive causes and to our institutions and our course our people (see: Puerto Rico), no.

This. I don't believe in losing elections to win future elections. Trump has done MASSIVE damage already. Withdrawing from Paris is a disaster. American leadership in the world is compromised. The western alliance is almost in ruins. This tax plan will be very hard to repeal in practice. The american people is more divided than ever. The supreme court is now majority conservative for likely a generation.

[Orser67]

Politically, a Republican president with a sub-40% approval rating is the best thing that could happen to Democrats.

In terms of policy, it's a tougher question. Trump's win was an environmental catastrophe, the judicial appointments will make conservative rulings for years, and the repeal of the individual mandate could be tough to reverse and cause major damage to insurance markets.

However, most of the provisions of the recent tax bill should be easy enough to reverse in 2021 or 2025, and the new funding allowed by the reversal of those tax policies could pay for major legislation such as an expansion of Medicare/Medicaid, a green stimulus," or universal pre-k. Also, the Supreme Court is still in play in the near/medium term until Kennedy retires.

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

Problem is Democrats are terrible at sustaining victories. If they regain both houses in 2018, Democrats need to go after Trump and ruin his life while legislating things of substance they know Trump will veto

-Democrats take Congress in 2018
-White House in 2020
-Dems continue to pass the same watered-down, "bipartisan compromise" legislation that fails to help anyone in a tangible way that defined Obama's presidency. 
-Barron Trump elected President.

I'm already resigned to it IMO

Not if progressives can gain ground in primaries, which they can if they run good campaigns.