America's apathy?

Is America's apathy finally over?

By Jill Filipovic

On Tuesday, Chicagoans are voting for mayor. New Yorkers are voting for public advocate. And in both cities, and all over the country, political races are crowded, with double-digit numbers of candidates vying for office: 14 (four of them women) for mayor of Chicago! Seventeen for New York public advocate! When was the last time you saw such a crowd reaching to become leaders in their cities?

And as 2020 gets nearer, if recent history is any indication, we will likely see a huge proliferation of candidates declaring their intent to compete for seats across the country. Many of them will probably be women, as we saw demonstrated in the midterms. Perhaps records will be shattered.

The takeaway that is emerging: People are getting involved in their democracy because they still believe it can be a pathway to change.

Indeed, the most exciting and telling story of America at this moment is not who's running, but how many people are throwing their hats in the ring. One logical explanation: Donald Trump has eroded our institutions and our trust in the presidency. But he may also have, perversely, increased many Americans' collective dedication to the democratic process.

This move away from political apathy is evident from high office down to the municipal level. For example, the Democratic Party has a remarkably crowded field of candidates, each putting out a unique vision for America, from the socialist Bernie Sanders to the practical moderate Amy Klobuchar. Already 10 Democrats have announced their candidacy and 13 others are actively contemplating jumping in, too.

Instead of deciding that Trump's America is beyond repair, it seems that every top Democrat has instead asked him or herself, "What can I do?" We saw this in the midterms as well, as a record number of women -- 117-- ran (and won) across the country.

Democrats have largely dominated this process, including those challenging Republicans in the deepest red districts. But some Republicans are leaping in, too. There is, for example, an effort to at least get a few more Republican women to run for office, to counter the narrative (and the unfortunate reality) that the party is one by and for white men.

This also goes beyond candidates themselves. No candidate wins alone, and the midterms showed us enormous numbers of volunteers and new staffers who decided to get involved in politics for the first time -- again, particularly women. Canvassers broke records, using mobile apps to reach huge numbers of voters across the nation.

Thank goodness. These are difficult times, especially for progressives. It's not just that we dislike the President's politics; it's that his presidency has been a full-on assault of all we hold dear, from our laws to our norms to our institutions to the foundations of our democracy itself.

Banning immigrants from a list of majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States was met with outrage; now it's our new normal. The President has undermined confidence in the FBI and targeted perceived critics in the CIA; he pulled a journalist's press pass for being too tough. When the political process didn't go his way, he abused his power to declare a state of emergency in order to fund a vanity project wall.

It's been shocking and heartbreaking to see the Republican Party allow this President to indulge his most anti-democratic impulses, concentrating power in an unstable executive and putting their own access to money and influence ahead of the good of country. The President has been pulling from the dictator's playbook and too many from his party have have aided and abetted him.

Given that reality, it's easy to imagine a scenario in which the rest of us just gave up. Who could blame Americans if we just threw in the towel?

But we haven't. Instead, so many of us have said, "What can I do?" Many have decided — as we see demonstrated in Chicago's mayoral race and beyond -- that electoral politics is the best route to progress.

What a full-throated endorsement of the enduring strength of American democracy, and the promise of our political system. What a wonderful repudiation of the nihilism and cynicism embodied by the Trump administration.

What good news, for both parties, and for the country.