Focus on the solution. There is only one.

Donald Trump at his January 2017 inauguration. Source: Wikimedia

Where is the end?

It is a question that Democrats continue to ask themselves online and in Congress as the Donald Trump administration grinds on through year three. Democrats have been unable to sustain outrage on Iranian saber-rattling, horrific detention center conditions, or Trump facing a credible accusation of rape. There is simply too much to focus on one issue at any time.

Democrats feel bogged down about impeachment. Their leaders are not listening. Leadership’s message is weak. Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and other top Democrats seem feckless, accommodationist, and impervious to argument from the left. Pelosi continues, again and again, to argue that Trump cannot be impeached, that she cannot risk the anger of the Republican base. A woman accused Trump of rape just last week, and Pelosi did not even call for a new investigation into the allegations. The resulting mood among Democrats and leftists is one of despair. They are unsure of what to do or how to respond. How does one confront a Democratic leadership that does not listen and an administration that does not seem to care?

Democrats have to orient their entire focus away from hopelessness and towards elections, both primary and general. They must convince themselves that the only way to substantially change the current political moment is through an electoral victory in 2020.

In many ways, the high level of Democratic enthusiasm in 2018 was an aberration. Turnout in the midterm elections of 2010 and 2014 was abysmal. Millions of Democrats did not take the 2016 presidential election seriously. They created apps that facilitated voter “swaps,” in which third-party voters in battleground states would vote Democratic while Democrats in deep-blue states would vote for third parties. This acceptance of the third-party vote helped lead to the winning of 3% of the popular vote by Libertarian Gary Johnson and 1% of the popular vote by Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Those votes were not viewed as a threat by a large number of liberals, and they arguably cost Hillary Clinton the presidency.

Recently, Democrats have suffered yet again from a lack of attention paid to elections. They have lost recent judicial elections in Wisconsin and legislative elections in Connecticut and Kentucky. The significance of these elections should have been blared from the social media accounts of every prominent liberal in the country. Instead, they garnered little more than a few headlines on political websites. As Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern wrote at the time of the Wisconsin judicial election,

Neubauer’s unexpected loss proves, once again, that Republican leaders simply care more about judicial elections than Democrats. After huge victories in Wisconsin’s 2018 races, liberals failed to turn out for Neubauer in sufficient numbers. Their apathy ensured that the Wisconsin Supreme Court will remain in arch-conservative hands for at least four more years.

The average person worried about the 2020 election can intervene. Democratic candidates need money. The party has services such as ActBlue that can send donations where they are most needed. Democrats also need to vote whenever possible and use social media to spread the word about elections. Everyone with any prominence or clout needs to announce special elections for judges in Wyoming, state legislators in Idaho, or any other race that comes up. These practices will create turnout patterns for Democrats that could make national sweeps significantly easier.

The 2020 election must be viewed as more than just another election; it must be a cultural moment. This election will determine both the presidency and redistricting after that year’s census. Democrats must blanket the airwaves and media platforms of the world with as many reminders and calls to action as they possibly can. Commitment to a cause, one that may prove to be successful and end the Trump administration, is always more productive than rage or despair.