Opinion: This country’s election may be the strategy to defeat Trumpism

Babis, a billionaire tycoon at the forefront of Czech politics since 2011, was elected Obviously, the United States — a nation of over 300 million people and only two major political parties — is vastly different from the Czech Republic, a nation of a little over 10 million with numerous viable political parties. But there are still lessons from the Czech election that apply to where our nation finds itself today. The Republican Party of 2021 is not in practice the political party it once was — one that embraced democracy and at least tolerated a multicultural society. Rather, as Harvard professor and Now, though, we are seeing McCarthy and other GOP leaders rallying behind Trump because, as Levitsky noted, they would “rather end democracy” than end their political careers. Trump is actively seeking to purge people like Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming from the party for refusing to acquiesce to his undemocratic desires, a strategy that deters others from daring to stand up to him. Levitsky warned, “It’s now crystal clear that they [the GOP] will follow him to whatever authoritarian destination he takes them.”While Levitsky notes “there is no magic solution” to defeating an authoritarian movement, the forming of a politically diverse pro-democracy coalition is a good start. As the Harvard professor explained, “a lesson we’ve taken from other cases, particularly in Europe, is the need to form a broad, ‘small D’ democratic coalition that has to range from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party to include democratic conservatives” to “as many Republicans as want to join.”Thankfully, we are already seeing the making of that, as laid out in a recent New York Times op-ed written by former GOP New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman and Miles Taylor, who served in the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security. They explained that over 150 conservatives — including former governors, members of Congress and party leaders — have joined forces to defeat Trumpism by supporting Democrats who are taking on “Trump extremists.” These Republicans admit they will likely disagree with Democrats on policy issues but add that “we agree on something more foundational — democracy.”They powerfully urged that, “in the battle for the soul of America’s political system, we cannot retreat to our ideological corners.”They are right. We do need to form a pro-democracy coalition in the same way leaders in the Czech Republic were able to put aside political differences to defeat a right-wing, populist leader. The hope is my fellow progressives will also see the urgency to join forces with those whom we passionately disagree with on policy but passionately agree with on preserving democracy. The future of our nation depends on it.