No, he can't

On Trump. the midterms and not cowering

Thanks to those of you who left comments or emailed me directly in response to my previous post. In that vein, one thing I spent some time trying to do in 2025, before I stopped posting, was to argue against a sense of doom and gloom that has, understandably, settled over many people who are dismayed and disgusted by the viciousness and cruelty of the current administration. It won’t do to be pollyanna. But neither will it serve us to cower in horror at every bombastic, unhinged pronouncement from our ridiculous president or his craven lieutenants. The real outrages are many. Let’s not compound those by conceding in advance that Trump can do every horrible thing he says he will do. I’m not a community organizer. I teach and I write. In that latter capacity, I can try to provide a sense of context and perspective to provide both a grounded and realistic assessment of where we are today and what I think are the ways that we can bring about a better tomorrow. And in doing so, I hope you all will draw some sense of fortification as you figure out how you can best shape our country and world for the better.

So, to make a brief comment about a matter I will discuss in more depth in the weeks and months ahead, count me among those who does not think Trump can steal the midterms. Of course, he will prod and probe and try. But try as he might, he won’t be able to. This is not to counsel complacency. Indeed, advocates determined to ensure the 2026 election results reflect the expressed will of the voters have begun to and must gird themselves for the coming battles. It’s important to appreciate, though, that they have all the legal and constitutional arguments on their side, not to mention public opinion, whatever Donald Trump says to the contrary. Such facts alone will not determine the outcome of this fight. But deployed by motivated and mobilized forces and facing a deeply unpopular and delusional president, I am hopeful to confident they will prevail, at least as far as this round goes (and let’s also try not to get too far ahead of ourselves. The 2026 elections come before the 2028 elections).¹

The day after Trump won in 2016, Josh Marshall wrote: “Optimism isn’t principally an analysis of present reality. It’s an ethic. It is not based on denial or rosy thinking. It is a moral posture toward the world we find ourselves in.”

Those words are worth holding on to, I think. In that light, and commenting today about the latest theory Trump is floating to arrogate to himself authority over elections he simply does not have, Marshall wrote: “The issue is whether we — everyone, the opposition, everyone who purportedly needs to be in perpetual orbit around Donald Trump’s degenerate brain — need to always be allowing him the initiative. Does everyone have to be waiting and thinking how to respond to his actions? No. States are obligated to maintain their unchallenged and unchallengeable sovereign power to conduct elections, in line with laws passed by Congress. Nothing anyone says to the contrary matters. Not any executive order. Not any court. No one. Period. End of story.”

Without resorting to rosy thinking, or reality denial and, as one commenter said encouragingly, while continuing to “embrace the kvetch,” I will be doing my best on this substack to keep that charge in mind.

1. And of course elections are far from the only consequential fights ahead. That’s just what I am focusing on for the moment.