Ironically, it also pits evangelical power brokers against values like humility, kindness, tolerance, family and self-restraint. Trump has revealed the emptiness of Christian conservatives who held themselves out to be guardians of the culture, protectors of families, sticklers for uprightness in our political leaders and advocates for subsidiarity (which is defined as governance that is best performed by the authority closest to the people). They are now enablers of Trump, all too willing to fan the flames of white grievance, demonize outsiders, condone corruption, ignore the suffering of innocents and deny others the same constitutional protections they claim for themselves. (Make no mistake, I refer not to millions of decent Christians, but to the Jerry Falwell Jr.-Tony Perkins-Franklin Graham set that has given up its principles for power.)

My colleague Michael Gerson explained earlier this year:

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It is remarkable to hear religious leaders defend profanity, ridicule, and cruelty as hallmarks of authenticity and dismiss decency as a dead language. Whatever Trump’s policy legacy ends up being, his presidency has been a disaster in the realm of norms. It has coarsened our culture, given permission for bullying, complicated the moral formation of children, undermined standards of public integrity, and encouraged cynicism about the political enterprise. Falwell, Graham, and others are providing religious cover for moral squalor — winking at trashy behavior and encouraging the unraveling of social restraints. Instead of defending their convictions, they are providing preemptive absolution for their political favorites. And this, even by purely political standards, undermines the causes they embrace. Turning a blind eye to the exploitation of women certainly doesn’t help in making pro-life arguments. It materially undermines the movement, which must ultimately change not only the composition of the courts but the views of the public. Having given politics pride of place, these evangelical leaders have ceased to be moral leaders in any meaningful sense.

And here is where the midterms, the crackup of the right and the opening for the Democrats (or a third party) come in. With Trump in office and self-appointed “values” leaders on the right now exemplifying the worst human characteristics, we have a values void in politics. For two years, we have, in effect, been told that truth, kindness, empathy and respect for democratic norms are for suckers.

The right stopped advocating for values, character and public decency; the left, until recently, has been squeamish about bringing such things (in part, for fear of sounding like the hypocritical evangelical operators). But here is the opportunity and a possible organizing principle for opponents of Trump and the moral nihilism that has engulfed the GOP and hovers ominously over the country.

The best candidates of this election cycle are those who appealed to the better angels of our nature. Why did Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Tex.) create such a splash? Running against arguably one of the least-principled men in politics, he has called for a return to American values and principles like welcoming the stranger, national unity, respect for dissent and protection of the rule of law. That is the message — the rebuke of Trump and his ilk.

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It turns out that, whatever their religion, or even if they follow no religion, Americans actually want their country to behave decently. It upsets them when children are ripped from the arms of their parents. They recoil in horror and rush to their neighbors’ aid when crazed haters attack part of their community. They deplore (at least they overwhelmingly say so in polls) Trump’s vulgarity, coarseness, lying and meanness. They don’t want to be joined at the hip with a regime that would murder and dismember a journalist.

This, I would suggest, is where a big-picture vision in opposition to Trumpism must start: A reaffirmation of the basic goodness and fundamental values (tolerance, respect, etc.) that have been essential to our multi-racial and multi-ethnic democracy. It starts with restating that we are a country founded on a creed (“All men are created equal . . .”), not on blood or soil. It calls for ethical government (and sweeping reform), transparency, adherence to facts (including science), respect for equal branches of government and for our democratic allies, promotion of civic obligations (starting with increased access to voting and including a robust national service program) and American leadership in the world, grounded in our defense of universal human rights.

Michael Bloomberg seems to grasp our collective yearning for a “higher purpose”:

Other political leaders should take notice. Americans are hungry for something better than the stew of lies, hatred and authoritarianism that Trump and his ilk serve up each day.