One of the interesting features of this election cycle has been the gulf, often vast, between the hysteria of liberals who write about politics for a living and the relative calm of Democrats who practice it.
In the leftward reaches of my Twitter feed the hour is late, the end of democracy nigh, the Senate and the Supreme Court illegitimate, and every Trump provocation a potential Reichstag fire. But on the campaign trail, with some exceptions and variations, Democrats are being upbeat and talking about health care and taxes and various ambitious policy ideas, as though this is still America and not Weimar, a normal time and not a terrifying one.
One way to look at this gulf is to argue the pundits are saying what the politicians can't — that alarmed liberals grasp the truth of things but swing voters don't, so Democratic politicians have no choice but to carry on as normal even if inside they're screaming too.
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