During the primaries, Donald Trump's appeal could be summed up in two words: “He fights.” The assumption embedded in this assertion was that the rest of the Republican Party did not. Among the right's most vocal activists, the GOP was thought to have caved to Barack Obama and the Democrats at every available opportunity. Among their liberal counterparts, however, the precise opposite was the prevailing wisdom. On tax cuts, environmental issues, health care, gun restrictions, and more, Barack Obama was perceived to be only too willing to compromise with Republicans. What progressive crusaders saw as contemptible Clintonian triangulation was, more likely, an acknowledgment that governing requires compromise, but intransigence is a virtue when the stakes are low.
From the wilderness, the ideological rigidity of unsavory zealots might look more like commitment than mania. Considering how well the GOP performed in elections during Obama's tenure in the White House, a little zeal might seem like a desirable trait for Democrats to court. Quite unlike the early Obama years, though, the political press focuses almost exclusively on the governing party and the president; the tactics and positions to which anti-Trump opposition has resorted just don't rate. As such, the Democratic Party's descent into radicalism is occurring under the radar.
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