Double or nothing

It’s pretty hard to describe the collective relief we all felt when the verdict was handed down late on Thursday in Donald Trump’s hush money case (that was really an election interference case.) Even the most cynical people following the trial – and just about everyone on the left and right of the anti-Trump coalition stopped arguing and found a way to mildly celebrate on social media the fact that justice had been served – with 12 brave jurors doing their part to stop the most powerful career criminal in American history.

We’re probably all dealing with the other mixed reactions out there – the right-wing outrage and the seemingly left and moderate concern trolling (largely borne out of ignorance over what this trial was all really about in the first place). Among the chief concerns is of course, Donald Trump’s greatest hit that he’s now – finally – more powerful than we’ve ever seen him before, that the convictions that polling has always shown would have a negative effect on Trump’s election prospects would actually make him more appealing than he’s ever been.

All too often we’re told to campaign like we’re behind, but I’ve never thought that to be particularly good advice. We’re at a point where the contrast between Donald Trump and President Biden has never been clearer – and things are poised to get worse with the possibility of a DC trial. Despite Trump being convicted and whatever his sentence is, we still need to fight him at the ballot box, but we should campaign as though we’re going to win as we push back now. Why win with just over 270 when we can expand the map? Why keep just the White House when we have the chance to keep the Senate as well? This makes the difference when you drive up our numbers and push everyone out of their complacency to vote on Nov 5.