Fight Like the Fate of the Nation Is at Stake. Because It Is.

For months, Donald Trump has been crystal clear about the campaign he will wage—one of retribution against the “Godless Marxists” and others who have tried to defend democracy and bring Trump to the bar of justice.

Joe Biden and the Democrats, meanwhile, have barely started campaigning. A pair of speeches in early January—he spoke about democracy near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and about extremism and white supremacy in Charleston, South Carolina—set a tone. But the shape of their campaign remains amorphous. And Democrats’ internal feuds, as ever, are on greater public display, especially over Israel.

So: How should the Democrats run? The New Republic asked five experts to weigh in. Four have long experience in politics. The fifth is a leading scholar and observer of the right. They wrote on different topics, but they all landed in the same psychic and emotional place: Fight. Play offense. Talk—a lot!—about the real-world damages caused by Republican policy. Be aggressive when discussing the issues that matter to everyday Americans. The years of equivocating on core principles and being afraid of attacking the other side’s so-called principles are over. Stand for things. And just as important, stand against things. Just … stand.