Good news: Trump has demolished the GOP. He has done so by basically intensifying the party's terrible policies going from dog whistle racism to blatant racism; sexism in private to sexism in full view of the media, tax cutting for the rich, outdoing anyone in defense of Netanyahu, coddling to the NRA and enlisting the support of the KKK. His narcissistic carelessness, which leads him to make contradictory statements about everything, has frightened the neocons who want NATO to survive intact and free traders who worry about his anti-NAFTA stance, so there is disarray in the party of the Southern strategy and neoliberal globalization. This disarray might actually spell something good for progressives: at long last the "soak the poor and enrich the rich" party is thrown off kilter.
Trump though is also creating major disagreements among the radical left or progressives generally. Although everyone agrees that Hillary Clinton is a terrible candidate, a neoliberal warrior who is in the pocket of Wall Street, AIPAC and big donors, the disagreement bears upon whether to vote for her in the election.
Some argue that Clinton is no worse than Trump or that the lesser evil is still evil and that you should vote your conscience. Others who are more critical on Wall Street such as Elizabeth Warren or who were critical of many of her policies like Sanders and Chomsky still argue that voting fro her is the only choice left. Chomsky says you should hold your nose when you vote for Clinton but still do it. He is right.
These radical left progressives are right for Trump is not only a very nasty clown with fascist tendencies, he is also a cluster of influences and they are all very bad. He advocates personal violence against Clinton, a thinly veiled death threat and therefore the possibility of death squads in the US, as they exist in some countries, think the Philippines today or Salvador in the recent past, could not be discarded if he ever came close to power.
A groper in chief is unacceptable, a bigot who is proud of his bigotry would spark a blaze of attacks on every possible ethnic or racial group and a touchy narcissist could not negotiate with any leader in the world. On this score, Trump is more Erdogan than Putin, a peacock in his palace who shouts "lock them up" and is obeyed by his minions. People are being locked up in Turkish jails.
If Warren, Sanders, Chomsky say they will vote for Clinton it is also because pressure can be exerted on her by the many supporters of the Sanders campaign. Sanders is the best anti-Trump: the supporters of both are angry and with legitimate grievances but Sanders is the decent man who does not let anger become sexist, racist and who fights for the dignity of everyone and every group. Anger for Trump is the vehicle of hatred and division; it fuels the war of all against all and the search for scapegoats, whereas Sanders, after Occupy Wall Street, is in search of solutions. For Trump anger and the thirst for recognition (thymos) are instrumentalized in the service of brutality and violence, with the usual targets of the GOP being in the forefront: African Americans, Latinos, women, Muslims. For Sanders or Warren anger is the path to just solutions that are inclusive where men and women, Blacks and Whites, natives and immigrants are not at each other's throats but work hand in hand to change an economic system which is unfair.
Clinton cannot win without the Sanders supporters and yes she has her big donors too. Sanders has wisely chosen to support the neoliberal warrior for she will owe him and his supporters and then just after the election the check will come due. The history of far right wing demagogues becoming popular in times of economic crisis is clear: once the demagogues achieve power they do not let go of it. Hitler deceived a lot of hard working Germans and then it was too late.
Clinton is many things but she is not dumb she already knows she cannot defeat Trump with Sanders and Warren. Trumpism will not disappear on November 9 and Clinton will still need Sanders supporters for the best way to defuse a far right rebellion is to create jobs and social programs for the needy, the downtrodden and the alienated. The Sanders-Warren solutions of justice will be Clinton's last dam before the misguided supporters of the quasi-fascist clown occupy the whole political stage. Franklin Roosevelt moved leftward under the pressure of labor unions and other social forces. Clinton will have to deal with the seeds of revolt on the right and she will not be able to do it with Wall Street, Saban, AIPAC and the neocons.
Both Trump in his indecent dangerous way and Sanders in his decent quasi-socialist way highlighted the return the social question.
Voting for Clinton on the part of the radical left is not a sell out but a belief that the terrible times of decomposition offer opportunities for future progressive gains. Clinton is a faux progressive, her record is not great but with the looming dangers of alienated people on the right and the pressures from the left Clinton can be forced to become progressive. She already moved on the minimum wage, Black Lives Matter and trade deals. Progressives should hold their noses, vote for her and start lobbying hard. The terrible Trump danger could be a blessing in disguise if it makes the progressive pressure on Clinton more effective. Then the wisdom of Sanders will be apparent.