His favorite expression is “I’m gonna’ push back.” That means he’s going to double down on the latest round of racist, sexist, hateful, stupid, lying remarks he made or tweeted a few hours before by saying or tweeting something that’s even more outrageous and extreme, which is limited due to his 500-word vocabulary. He generally just repeats himself, then blames it all on the Democrats, takes an obligatory swipe at Crooked Hillary or that Muslim n-word Obama, maybe both, declares that he’s not racist or sexist or whatever, and wraps it with a rousing chorus of “Why’s Everybody Always Pickin’ on Me.”

This clownish performance has been repeated hundreds (thousands?) of times by now and the response is always the same. His “core supporters” lap it up. Republican Congressmen make excuses that suggest that while such unpleasantries as racism, sexism (and insane narcissism) make them mildly uncomfortable he is, after all, Our President…or rather Their President. Meanwhile those who are shocked and outraged by his latest blast of obscenities try to make rational arguments against them. But, as the old saying goes “You can’t have a duel of wits with an un-armed man.”

I have a modest suggestion to make to the rationalists. Quit arguing. It isn’t worth the effort. You’ll never win an argument with a man who’s permanently in “Send” mode backed by a lynch mob of know-nothings who aren’t about to desert him no matter what he says or does. You’ll not win any converts from the Trump camp. Best fire up your own “core supporters” the way he does his, by “pushing back” against him. Verbal bullies like Trump work their mouths because at the core they’re cowards who think they’re powerful enough or privileged enough to escape the fighting consequences of their fighting words. Time to roust out Trump’s inner coward and put it on display for all the world, including Fox News, to see. Infuriate him to the point where he’ll spend so much energy and bile attacking those “pushing back” against him that he may even forget about his Wonderful Wall for a while. He may also forget about his campaign to destroy the US government and economy.

Time to “push back” against Trump’s supporters and appointees as well. To provoke them, in person, in public, not just on social media. Talk and pictures are so cheap on the net they’re nearly worthless. One anti-Trump T-shirt worn in public is worth 1,000 pictures of a person wearing one on Facebook. Disrupt Trump rallies from the inside if you can find a way to sneak in. You don’t have to do much, a few shouts of “Lock Him Up!” before Security drags you off will be sufficient. Then you can hold a news conference and demand that Security remove all those folks braying “Lock Her Up!” The same chant will do the trick outside the rally. Don’t limit yourself to the Trump Roadshow. Seek out Trumpies whenever and wherever they appear in public. Call them out. But deliver your message in a calm controlled voice. Don’t get physical. If they want to get physical take their blows…and make sure someone has a cell phone handy to record the fracas.

“Sounds divisive and cynical to me” you say. Right on both counts. But the nation is already divided. Trump and the Tea Partiers have seen to that. The battle lines are already drawn. The task confronting the Democratic Party is to keep the Red line at around 40% and make sure they get their own supporters out, something they’ve rarely done in the past, especially in off-year elections. Bashing Trump will bring them out. Put the Issues and the Party Platform on hold. Everyone knows the things the Democrats want to do. Anyone in touch with reality knows that none of those things has the remotest chance of getting done until Trump and the Republican Party are removed from power. Job one is obvious. This coming election may well be the ugliest and dirtiest fight in our political history. There will be no high road to victory, only the low road and the even lower road.

Trump may not be a candidate, but he’s the issue. The only issue because he’s the most spectacular example of all the things that are wrong with politics in America and that threaten American Democracy. Democrats and their party leaders and all their candidates must aggressively and relentlessly make him the issue. They must make every Republican they run against “Trump’s Creature.” They must tar their opponents with every association they’ve ever had with him or any of his disreputable crew. Innuendo and guilt by association should be in play. They always are anyway in election years. Hit hard and often. Play dirty when necessary. Make the 2018 Election a resounding Vote of No Confidence in President Donald Trump and be prepared to continue the bare-knuckle brawl until 2020. Perhaps by then America will be over its dangerous flirtation with self-styled Men on Horseback (or in golf carts) and their deluded followers. Perhaps by then America will be able to return to a higher road and heal some of its wounds and divisions, but not before.