One of the Most Consequential Elections In American History
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Even if you assume that Republicans retain the House, making Clinton’s legislative agenda moot, the stakes are yooge:
Arguably the most important of these is environmental policy. A Clinton administration would proceed with Obama’s Clean Power Plan, a regulatory framework that is on track to substantially reduce carbon emissions. The plan faces a court challenge, but is expected to be upheld in the D.C. Circuit. That means that if it comes before the now evenly divided Supreme Court, the worst-case scenario is a likely deadlock that would leave the lower court ruling in place. A Clinton administration could also be expected to implement and expand the wide variety of regulations that the Obama administration has proposed to combat climate change and protect the environment.
By contrast, an administration helmed by Donald Trump, who has said climate change is a hoax invented by Chinese interests, would end the Obama administration’s environmental regulatory agenda, substantially increase in the use of dirty energies like coal, and slash support for the development of renewable energy technologies. Even four years of Trump would do incalculable damage to the planet.
Another critical difference between a Clinton and Trump administration is federal regulatory enforcement. As Michael Tomasky once wrote for the Prospect, “In every agency of government, at every level, there are political appointees who are interpreting federal rules and regulations and deciding how much effort will really be put into pursuing federal discrimination cases, for instance, or illegal toxic dumping. These are the people who are, in fact, the federal government. The kinds of people who fill those slots in a Democratic administration are of a very different stripe than the kinds who fill them during a Republican term.”
A Clinton administration would aggressively enforce voting rights and other anti-discrimination laws. As reflected in her campaign, Clinton’s administration would place a priority on enforcing the rights of the disabled. It would more aggressively enforce the rights of consumers. Clinton would almost certainly proceed with Obama’s more humane immigration policies. On these and other issues, a Trump administration would move the nation in the opposite direction. Moreover, as Thomas Geoghegan recently observed, a Democratic administration provides a training ground for many young, progressive Democrats.
And if Democrats re-take the Senate, there will be a liberal median vote on the Supreme Court for the first time in nearly 50 years. Conversely, if Trump were to win, he would act as a matador for Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell’s restoration of the Gilded Age. I’ve asked this before, but how many elections in American history have been between major parties that were further apart ideologically? Fewer than 5, for sure. But, admittedly, EMAILZS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!