While some on the left are warning that a second Trump presidency will mean critics are imprisoned and insurrectionists are pardoned, one moderate Democrat doesn't see the need to panic. "Donald Trump is going to win" the November election "and I'm OK with that," Rep. Jarden Golden of Maine writes in an op-ed at the Bangor Daily News. Golden goes on to argue that Democrats are only trying "to scare voters with the idea that Trump will end our democratic system." He rejects the premise with one simple argument: "Hundreds of millions of freedom-loving Americans ... won't let anyone take away our constitutional rights as citizens of the greatest democracy in history."
On Jan. 6, 2021, for instance, police officers, judges, state election officials, and members of Congress came together "in the defense of democracy," Golden writes. So "ignore the chattering class's scare tactics and political pipedreams," he continues. "This Independence Day, we should reflect on the history and strength of our great democracy, safe in the knowledge that no one man is strong enough to take it away from us." He adds "this election is about the economy, not democracy. And when it comes to our economy, our Congress matters far more than who occupies the White House."
Golden, co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition, notes "members must stand up to the GOP old-guard who will use a Trump presidency as cover for handouts to the wealthy and powerful at the cost of America's working families and communities." They must also "stabilize Medicare and Social Security, without cuts for seniors" and "guarantee women's reproductive rights." But that doesn't mean fighting a presumptive President Trump on everything. Indeed, Trump's proposed trade policies "would reverse the harms of globalization and protect American businesses from unfair foreign competition," Golden writes.
story continues below
Unsurprisingly, the op-ed has received a lot of pushback, per Common Dreams. Fordham University assistant political science professor Jacob Smith says it's "one of the most irresponsible things a Democratic member of Congress has written in recent memory," while journalist Mark Jacob says it represents "an unconscionable surrender to fascism" from someone perhaps looking to "cut a deal" as he eyes a fourth term in Congress. Republicans are pouring a lot of resources into the campaign of former NASCAR driver Austin Theriault, who's challenging Golden in Maine's 2nd District. Currently, "Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan index, ranks Golden's district as a toss-up," per the Hill. (More Election 2024 stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
