if there’s one single explanation for why this election has gone off the rails—and, indeed, why the past eight years have been so politically miserable—it’s this: even at this late date, we’ve had hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of analyses and hot takes from a liberal/progressive perspective, struggling to answer the question, “Why Trump?”

i’ve seen almost no one asking in good faith, “Why not the Democrats?”

the former leads into all sorts of pop psychology: speculation about intellectual inferiority, congenital prejudice, moral bankruptcy. but those perspectives will never change people, and only enrage them.

the latter might actually produce some worthwhile political insights that could help right the ship. why do people still despise the Democratic Party—every single Democratic presidential candidate for the past eight years, including the old white guy—more than a meandering country club owner with Borderline Personality Disorder?

if the Democratic Party still can’t acknowledge its own weaknesses and make a positive case for its policies, rather than constantly leaning on moral superiority—it’s doomed, with or without Trump.