Bob Schwartz

It is the greatest “what if” in modern American history. What if Trump had won the election in 2020?

In the two months since the election we have the gruesome answer. In a second Trump term, American government would be filled with more unbridled and self-serving lies and grabs for extra-constitutional power. That is, authoritarianism. Of this there can be no doubt.

Which leaves us with the second question. If those who helped defeat Trump, by voting for Biden or by choosing not to vote for Trump, helped America avoid totalitarianism, what do we say about those who voted for Trump?

The answer is not complicated. As we learn from the sordid history of the rise of other autocratic regimes, supporters are either dupes without good judgment or those who see some advantage in advancing the cause of diminished democracy. Apologists for centuries have tried to promote a third way, saying that people of good will can disagree, but that is historical nonsense when the choice is glaringly obvious.

So thank you if you voted for Biden. Thank you also if you considered Trump, maybe voted for him in 2016, but decided to sit out 2020. If, however, you voted for Trump in 2020, you are no doubt telling yourself or others how you were somehow advancing the cause of a healthy America. You were not. Maybe you were just a fool. Or maybe you were selfish. Either way, the good news for democracy is that your folly or your selfishness failed. A great thing for America.