The challenge in immigration is to find some way not to inflict gratuitous

cruelties and yet to arrive at the non-binary intermediate position that both gets the country the numbers and the

talented needs while avoiding the problems of social stability.

And now the good fight with Yasha Monk.

Two things are true at the same time.

The first is that Donald Trump is inflicting terrible damage on the United States and the world.

Getting him out of office in 2020 needs to be the highest priority to any Democrat, capital D or small D.

At the same time, the reasons why somebody like Donald Trump could get elected in the first place has deep causes.

We need to make a lot of economic and other changes in this country in order to make sure that somebody like Trump

doesn't get elected again and this means winning in 2020 on an agenda that actually improves this country in a fundamental way.

Now the fact that these two narratives are both partially true can help to explain some of the

rancor in the Democratic debates. To moderates like say Joe Biden. It is very hard to

understand why people on the left of the party want to prioritize proving the radical bonafides over getting

Trump out of the White House. Meanwhile people on the left of the party are claiming that they will only win against

Trump and that they will only be able to carry out the kind of changes the country needs

if they run on a deeply progressive agenda.

Well I think both sides in this debate are half right and half wrong. Here's how I see it. Number one, there's

actually a lot of support for a range of progressive policies in this country.

A majority of Americans think that we should have

universal health insurance.

A majority of people in this country want it to become easier to unionize.

They want higher minimum wages, they want higher taxes on the rich. So it is possible to run on a proudly progressive agenda that is

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