I took my own advice. In my last column, I advised readers to reflect on the fact that a convicted felon was running for the highest office in the country. I didn’t watch the presidential debate either; I knew I would get the highlights (and low lights!) ad nauseam. With this column, I have some more advice: Let’s stop obsessing over 45 and make sure he doesn’t become 47.

One stream of thought coming out of the debates that continues to baffle me is the call for Joe Biden to drop out of the race. The call came from the New York Times editorial board immediately after the debate. It was echoed by members of the Democratic Party. With all trump’s immoral, unethical and criminal behavior for years, I’ve never heard a chorus singing a similar refrain. It’s been just the opposite. How to present the con man as a world leader with all the protections necessary.

Let me say a thing or two about the weak-kneed, spineless Democrats. Instead of some people blaming Gen Zs for Jamaal Bowman’s defeat in New York, we can point fingers at key Democrats like Hillary Clinton who endorsed Bowman’s opponent. The OGs of the Democratic Party have coalesced with Zionists to put the “Squad” in their place – outside the Party. Their next target is Cori Bush in Missouri who has been a staunch pro-Palestinian congressperson.

Progressive forces must stop the hand-wringing about our weaknesses. We are stuck in analysis paralysis and obsessing about the impending Armageddon. We talk about the impending doom as if it won’t affect us or as if we have no power to change the course of the political trajectory barreling towards authoritarianism.

We who believe in democracy cannot afford to reduce this critical discussion and our strategy to two white men or two parties. This election is consequential, and it will be us that makes the difference. Our strategy cannot be merely focused on an election painted as a choice between the lesser of two evils. Our strategy must be an aggressive and intentional organizing campaign to build a united front against fascism. One that goes well beyond one undemocratic election.

Project 2025 should have made a believer out of us. The right’s playbook to take absolute power is no secret. They’ve been unfolding the plan with gerrymandering for supermajorities in state legislatures, stacking the courts and rolling back hard-fought gains like abortion and voting rights. We’ve witnessed its implementation over the last several years but a trump victory in November will accelerate a brutal dismantling of government as we know it with an absolute consolidation of power.

The mandate in this next period is to embark upon a mass education campaign that actively engages the multiracial working class in its future. We have to win big at the November polls to show both parties our strength and determination. The elections are just a stop on the way to building a united front against fascism because the threat will still be there. This must be a protracted, innovative struggle that taps into the might of the working class to not just slow down the right’s agenda but to dismantle it. We must do all we can to preserve our Democracy.