IT"S JUST A DIFFERENT SORT OF EVIL.

Columnist Tom Nichols, who some time ago publicly broke with the Republican Party over Donald Trump's hostile takeover thereof, now pleads with the Democrats to not unleash their kind of crazy.

I'm not telling you to go win the votes of old racists wearing MAGA hats; I’m telling you to make sure that the people who helped you in 2018 don’t simply stay home in 2020. And the first thing you can do to avert this, which will result in another supermajority win on the coasts while losing the Electoral College, is to stop handing issues to the Republican culture warriors.

Take it from a former member of the GOP tribe, they’re waiting for you. They are praying, you should pardon the expression, that you will do something stupid and pointless so that they can take the spotlight off of Trump. They will do anything to change the subject, so that you cannot run on the simple platform that Trump is an emotionally unstable ignoramus who is endangering our national security and  trampling on the Constitution. Why help them?

You’ve told me many times, as we’ve sat together in front of the television, that the Democrats can advocate for very liberal social justice positions and still strategize to beat Trump. I have squeezed my eyes tight, and I have wanted to believe you. And in fairness, you did a great job in 2018. If there’s any chance of impeaching the Mad King, it’s because you and your compatriots held back on the fringey stuff and elected a lot of solid, moderate candidates who flipped a lot of seats. My fears back then were unfounded.

Those solid, moderate candidates do not represent the Democrat base. But a guy who wrote about the death of expertise understands he can only get away with disrespecting the stereotypical Trump voters.