Democrats united against Donald Trump

Although getting a group of Democrats to support a single candidate is like the cliche about herding cats, the fact is, Donald Trump has done for the party what no other candidate in recent memory has been able to accomplish. Yup! Democrats are united against Donald Trump. We're called "The Resistance".

By Paul Waldman in The Week
One great election can't revive a political party, but Democrats are finally feeling pretty darn good right now. 

Although it's difficult for the Democratic party to unite around one political candidate, we are coalesced against Donald Trump.

And there's one man they (we!) have to thank for the reversal of the Democratic party's fortunes after "What Happened" to Hillary Clinton in the illegitimate 2016, presidential election: Donald J. Trump.

Imagine if Hillary Clinton had managed to secure an Electoral College victory to go along with her popular vote win a year ago. Had that happened, Ed Gillespie would probably be picking out furniture for the Virginia governor's mansion, and the state's Republicans would have reinforced their hold on the legislature. 

All over the country, conservatives consumed with rage at a Clinton presidency would be creating the second coming of the Tea Party, organizing protests, signing up volunteers, registering voters, and preparing for what would likely be a Republican wave election in 2018.

for this idea: As a recent meta-analysis of multiple political science studies concluded, efforts by campaigns during general elections at persuasion — changing people's minds on their vote choice — are pretty much a waste of time. "The direct persuasive effects of voter contact and advertising in general elections are essentially zero," the authors wrote. It's a somewhat complicated picture, but the takeaway is that the better use of resources is mobilization: not converting the other side's voters, but getting your own voters excited enough to get to the polls. This year's election certainly reinforced that idea, and Democrats are taking it to heart.

In a related development, you can't help but notice a new eagerness among elected Democrats to stop splitting the difference on issues and forthrightly advocate for policies that reflect liberal values, whether it's a living wage or protecting women's right to choose or universal health coverage — which is more likely to give their partisans something to vote for, even as they want to vote against Trump.

That's not to say there aren't still plenty of internal disagreements among Democrats over both strategy and substance, because there are. But years from now, we may say that 2017 was the year when dispirited Democrats came back to life and began renewing their party, enabling it emerge stronger than it had been in years. 

We may even say that President Trump was the best thing that ever happened to the Democratic Party. (MaineWriter- I disagree with this particular point of view but, nevertheless, I reluctantly accept the author's premise. In my opinion, Donald Trump is the worst executive leader imaginable for the USA, he's not even patriotic.)