Chuck Darwin<p>The polls remain close, </p><p>and with <a href="https://c.im/tags/democracy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>democracy</span></a> truly on the ballot, <br>this is no time for complacency or business as usual. </p><p>Trump will stop at nothing to win, <br>and we’ve seen him seek to <a href="https://c.im/tags/disrupt" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>disrupt</span></a> and ignore <a href="https://c.im/tags/elections" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>elections</span></a> in the past. </p><p>Foreign enemies, like Vladimir <a href="https://c.im/tags/Putin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Putin</span></a>, <br>have a huge stake in a Trump victory, <br>and we know they are already <a href="https://c.im/tags/meddling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>meddling</span></a> in the election. </p><p>Meanwhile, the <a href="https://c.im/tags/media" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>media</span></a> and members of the <a href="https://c.im/tags/GOP" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>GOP</span></a> are busy 🔸normalizing the abnormal.🔸</p><p>The Democracy Future Project’s exercises can’t tell us whether the descent into authoritarianism will be fast or slow if Trump wins. </p><p>Most likely, it will involve a combination of highly visible steps and subtler, <br>possibly even more dangerous changes <br>--far from view. </p><p>But the exercises make it clear that should Trump win in November, <br>there is every reason to expect the worst. </p><p>And that’s why there is also every reason to <br>prepare for the worst case. </p><p>If those who care about democracy start coordinating now to shore up democracy’s defenses, <br>we’ll have a fighting chance of slowing or preventing Trump’s most egregious plans <br>should he regain the White House.</p><p>And while we start planning for this dark future, <br>at the same time we need to focus intensively <br>on ⭐️winning this election. ⭐️</p><p>We have a new candidate who is pulling no punches, <br>and within the last week we have seen a surge ✅ <br>in momentum, <br>creativity, leadership, and purpose. </p><p>We must build on that. </p><p>Because given the politically biased and corrupt <a href="https://c.im/tags/Supreme" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Supreme</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Court" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Court</span></a>, <br>the commitment of <a href="https://c.im/tags/MAGA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MAGA</span></a> Republicans on the Hill to political hackery, <br>and the grim determination of <a href="https://c.im/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a> and his sycophantic allies to act on his repeated autocratic threats, <br>our <a href="https://c.im/tags/best" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>best</span></a> chance<br>—and possibly our <a href="https://c.im/tags/last" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>last</span></a> chance<br>—to preserve our democracy will be in November.</p>