Isn’t it nice to know
That good will conquer evil?
The truth we all believe will by and by
Outlive a lie
-Glinda the Good Witch, Wicked

(Jan 30 editorial note in response to wise reader comments: This post does what I say not to do…disrespect your opponents. My intent was to show that being snide and derogatory stirs up hostility and defensiveness, whether the audience is Trump voters or fellow leftists. However, as readers have pointed out, this was destined to backfire. I’m leaving the post up for now for whatever it’s worth, and apologize for lapsing into counterproductive obnoxiousness).

I wrote a very naïve book in 2018. I tried to show my fellow liberals and progressives that the contempt displayed by Hillary “deplorables” Clinton and the broader left was, to put it politely, counterproductive.

Seven years later, the failure of my project is inescapable: Outside of some quarters of the socialist/populist-leaning left, moral superiority remains the default mode for vanquished Democrats and MAGA foes.

A classic example of the genre (highlighting not in original):

Those who wrote, read, liked and shared the above Facebook post are so smart and good, can’t you just tell? It must hurt their large brains and kind hearts so much to have to stoop to show MAGA fools the error of their ways. Surely, Democrats have never endorsed anything that turned out to be untrue or unethical. (Biden was and is fit as a fiddle, and anyone who said otherwise was a right-wing propagandist).

Does my sarcastic derision make you want to punch me? Exactamundo!

Much of what I’ll call for lack of a better term “the Left” is so insulated inside its online bubble, they don’t realize that they are part of a very small ideological minority that, as Jeff Maurer joked, “most of America would like to throw down an elevator shaft.”

They are unaware of how off-putting their condescension and self-righteousness are. Many have told me my book helped them see that scorning half the country was a losing strategy. But I’ve watched helplessly as many of those same people continue to resort to preachiness, ridicule, and smug knowingness in the face of MAGA’s ever-expanding appeal. If Deplorables 1.0 didn’t work, maybe Deplorables Ten Million will.

Maybe the majority of Americans, who find Left positions on certain issues too extreme/completely nuts, can finally be scolded into recognizing the Left’s infallibility and goodness. Maybe being judgy, snarky and abrasive will make people like and admire us.

I sincerely want to know why Lefties persist in this manner. Is deriding the enemy simply too irresistibly pleasurable? Does calling Trump voters stupid and fascist make the name-callers feel smart and virtuous by comparison? Is online peer pressure to virtue-signal perpetuating a toxic polarization feedback loop? Is it more important to be counted as a valued player on Team Good than to actually win?

I think there’s something to all of the above. I’ve had countless conversations with people who agree with my fairly non-controversial thesis (being mean doesn’t win people over) but then recite what has become something of a mantra: “But we just have to speak the truth…they ARE stupid bigots, and WE are compassionate and wise. WE HAVE TO KEEP SAYING THIS.”

We have to or…what? What if we didn’t take every opportunity to tell people what lowlifes they are? What if we decided that winning political power is more important than scolding wrongthink and reveling in their suffering?

When I let go of my contempt for conservatives around eight years ago, it was liberating. I felt like I had dropped a burden I didn’t even realize I was carrying. There are personal and societal benefits to transcending toxic polarization, I promise you. There are friends to be made, common ground to be discovered, alliances to be forged, and campaigns to be won.

ABSOLUTELY OWNING AND DESTROYING one’s foes may feel too enjoyable and ego-boosting to lay off. But Trump 2.0 hasn’t been enjoyable at all so far, nor will President Vance be.