While I disagree that it’s “by design,” I will grant you that they definitely benefit the more loathesome the far right becomes. It wasn’t a feature, it was a result they didn’t foresee that they’re just taking full advantage of.

Their goal is absolutely to get elected and stay in power, it’s not to do away with the fascist edifice quickly being built higher and higher to the right of them. Trump’s brand of open racism and hostility was a boon for the democrats. They raised an obscene amount of funds from citizens while continuing their donations from business. Trumps basically widened their revenue stream. If we stay mad and scared, they stay flush. Which…huh…is very much the far right strategy as well, isn’t it?

It’s incredibly fucked up, because while everything above is definitely true, it’s also true that they are the finger in the dike between neoliberal corporatist bullshit and those fascists taking full power. Both are pretty fuckin distasteful options. And it’s hard to do anything…but whether it’s distasteful or hard or awful or any other horrible adjective, fascism is still fascism. A lot of us have the privilege of not being a clear target when fascists come to town. The marginalized groups are the first line that go down if we fail to keep up the fecal facade of neoliberalism. A shitty decision, but one that we unfortunately have to make every two years.