The electoral victories that broke the Republican hold on the House of Representative have pierced the perceptions of Trumpism as all-powerful and impenetrable. This includes all kinds of progressive referenda, left candidates in state races, and most dramatically, the restoration of voting rights for (most of) the formerly incarcerated in Florida. There were significant victories in the Midwest where Trump secured his electoral outcome in 2016. The demise of troglodyte governors Scott Walker and Bruce Rauner, in Wisconsin and Illinois respectively, is also welcome. These are important repudiations of the white supremacy emanating from the White House. It was also a confirmation of the audience that exists for actual left politics, not watered-down centrism.

For some of the Democrats running for re-election in the Senate and elsewhere, we now have tangible proof that you can’t beat neo-Confederate, white nationalism with mealy-mouthed middle-of-the-road appeals to civility and good governance. Conservative and centrist Democrats found that voters won’t waste their time with cheap knockoffs.

The only chance we have to bury the Trump nightmare is a radical political agenda that provides an actual and real alternative to the status quo. The massive increase in voter turnout is a testament to this. The progressive current within the Democratic Party did not just run against Trump — they ran on Medicare for All, abolition of ICE, and other political issues seen as progressive and not just maintenance of the status quo. It was the motivating factor missing in the 2016 presidential campaign that motivated people to stand in lines for hours in poor conditions.