Progressives have fallen into a familiar pattern early in Donald Trump’s presidency: wait for him to screw up, and then, depending on the severity of the offense, react with mockery or outrage. This applies to the trivial, as when Trump tweeted “Despite the negative press covfefe,” and to the consequential, as when he withdrew the United States last week from the Paris climate agreement.

In the latter instance, the outrage has spurred action: The same day as Trump’s announcement, a coalition of governors, mayors, university deans, and CEOs, led by Michael Bloomberg, pledged to keep America’s Paris commitments. “While the executive branch of the U.S. government speaks on behalf of our nation in matters of foreign affairs,” Bloomberg wrote in a letter to the United Nations secretary-general, “it does not determine many aspects of whether and how the United States takes action on climate change.” A separate group, of Democratic governors, has formed a similar alliance. “California will resist this misguided and insane course of action,” California Governor Jerry Brown said. “Trump is AWOL but California is on the field, ready for battle.”

Democrats have seized on Trump’s massive unpopularity to sell a powerful message not only against his disastrous presidency, but against a Republican Party that appears incapable of running the country. That a party entirely out of power in Washington would define itself in opposition to the majority is not surprising. Without the power to pass legislation, what more can Democrats do but rail against Trump and fight his efforts to undo President Barack Obama’s legacy? The answer: Democrats can push even more progressive policies than the ones they’re trying to save.

The downside of Obama’s success was that it made the left overconfident about the political future of the country: Progressivism’s ascent was unstoppable, it seemed, and the Democratic Party had a lock on the White House. That overconfidence bred complacency, at least among the party establishment and its base. Bernie Sanders and his supporters, meanwhile, argued that all was not well—and they were proven right when Hillary Clinton lost.

Trump is already one of the greatest unifiers of the American left in history. The clear and present danger of his presidency—his almost comically villainous cabinet, draconian budget, racist Muslim ban, egregious ethics violations and deepening Russia scandal—has led Democrats, whose intraparty squabbling dominated last year’s primaries, to form a united opposition both in Congress and on the streets. There have been mass marches for women, science, the environment, truth, and immigrants. The Republican attempt to repeal Obamacare, in particular, has ignited widespread progressive activism in the form of street protests, raucous town hall meetings, and overwhelmed congressional offices.