beyond the anti-trump protests november 17, 2016 




anti-trump protests broke out shortly after the presidential results were in, but progressives need a more comprehensive and thoughtful approach to the next four years, says sam husseini. 




by sam husseini 




two views seem to be dominant among progressives regarding donald trump: either protest all he does (people have been holding <u+201c>anti-trump<u+201d> rallies for the past week) or <u+201c>give him a chance<u+201d> (let<u+2019>s see what he does, maybe it will be okay). but both the demonizers and those urging a passive approach are wrong. 




the <u+201c>anti-trump<u+201d> approach is hollow. first, to protest a person is dubious. too often, <u+201c>progressives<u+201d> have focused on the personal rather than the policies and actions. remember <u+201c>anybody but bush<u+201d>? that<u+2019>s not a particularly uplifting way of approaching things and doesn<u+2019>t lead to genuinely positive outcomes. also, trump is someone who has said a lot of contradictory things. republican presidential candidate donald trump in an msnbc interview. 




so, you can certainly talk about rights for immigrants or women<u+2019>s rights or ensuring that anti-muslim policies do not escalate. but to say <u+201c>anti-trump<u+201d> or to ignore good things that trump has said is hollow. and, yes, there are good things he<u+2019>s said. for example, during the primaries, he denounced the <u+201c>regime change<u+201d> wars waged by george w. bush, barack obama and hillary clinton: 




<u+201c>we<u+2019>ve spent $4 trillion trying to topple various people that frankly, if they were there and if we could<u+2019>ve spent that $4 trillion in the united states to fix our roads, our bridges, and all of the other problems; our airports and all of the other problems we<u+2019>ve had, we would<u+2019>ve been a lot better off. i can tell you that right now.<u+201d> 




but it also doesn<u+2019>t make sense to say <u+201c>let<u+2019>s see what he does.<u+201d> to stand aside is to allow trump to be cutting deals with house speaker paul ryan and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, who will doubtlessly work to take away what populist, anti-interventionist and pro-working-class instincts trump might otherwise follow. 




bernie sanders has in recent days struck a reasonable tone at times. in this interview and in a statement just after the election, he said: <u+201c>donald trump tapped into the anger of a declining middle class that is sick and tired of establishment economics, establishment politics and the establishment media. <u+2026> to the degree that mr. trump is serious about pursuing policies that improve the lives of working families in this country, i and other progressives are prepared to work with him. to the degree that he pursues racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-environment policies, we will vigorously oppose him.<u+201d> 




that seems like a reasonable approach although the major problem with what sanders says is that it ignores foreign policy, a longstanding problem with sanders. 




but others are addressing foreign policy: rand paul is right to press: <u+201c> will donald trump betray voters by hiring john bolton? <u+201d> diana johnston at counterpunch wrote: <u+201c> after the election: don<u+2019>t panic, think! <u+201d> 




left-right alliances 




one possible opportunity is for progressives to be forging left-right alliances , as sanders alludes to above. indeed, the senator<u+2019>s biographer, greg guma, notes that sanders has done that in the past at times: sen. bernie sanders speaking to one of his large crowds of supporters. (photo credit: sanders campaign) 




<u+201c>one unusual aspect of bernie<u+2019>s approach in congress has been to wage congressional battles with people whose stands on other issues he abhors. in fact, much of bernie<u+2019>s legislative success has come through forging deals with ideological opposites. an amendment to bar spending in support of defense contractor mergers, for example, was pushed through with the aid of chris smith, a prominent opponent of abortion. john kasich <u+2026> helped him phase out risk insurance for foreign investments. 




<u+201c>and it was a <u+2018>left-right coalition<u+2019> he helped create that derailed <u+2018>fast track<u+2019> legislation on international agreements pushed by bill clinton. the power of that strategy may have reached its apex in may 2010 when bernie<u+2019>s campaign to bring transparency to the federal reserve resulted in a 96-0 senate vote on his amendment to audit the fed and conduct a general accounting office audit of possible conflicts of interest in loans to unknown banks.<u+201d> 




in fact, if such a right-left approach isn<u+2019>t followed now, trump will likely be forging alliances with ryan and mcconnell . in other words, the path ahead for construction policies may be narrow, but it holds the best hope for the next four years. that strategy calls for attacking trump when he fails his populist promises but working with him when he pursues them. 




this approach also would likely strengthen populist elements within the democratic party and may lead to a de facto realignment of u.s. politics. it may be less glamorous than resisting and filibustering, which may be needed on some issues, but finding constructive overlaps might actually fix some things that need fixing. 




last year, in a piece entitled <u+201c> in defence of the rise of trump <u+201c>, i wrote: 




<u+201c>[trump] might pursue the same old establishment policies if he were ever to get into office <u+2014> that<u+2019>s largely what obama has done, especially on foreign policy. trump says, <u+2018>i was a member of the establishment seven months ago.<u+2019> 




<u+201c>the point is that the natives are restless. and they should be. it<u+2019>s an important time to engage them so they stay restless and funnel that energy to constructive use, not demonize or tune them out.<u+201d> 




demonizing trump supporters has proved disastrous. it<u+2019>s time for another approach by progressives: engagement. 




sam husseini is founder of votepact.org .
beyond the anti-trump protests
consortiumnews.com