1. Thread: in 1946, while working in the US Embassy in Moscow, George F. Kennan penned the famous "Long Telegram" that outlined the "containment strategy" that was eventually adopted by the US.

2. He argued that the US should act in concert with Western Europe to contain the USSR to Eastern Europe and to forgo any cooperation with the Soviets. In short, this became the basis of "The Truman Doctrine."

3. I am thinking of the containment strategy when it comes to the MAGA/QAnon crowd when it comes to electoral politics. I want to emphasize that this thread is about electoral politics, not domestic terrorism.

4. In the 2016 election, white voters without college degrees constituted 47% of the voting electorate. This portion of the electorate has been declining by 2% per presidential election since 1980. It's shrinking.

5. Some estimate that percentage will be in the 44% to 45% range for this year's elections.

6. Why does this all matter? During the Obama Presidency, the Democratic Party lost over 1,000 statehouse seats nationwide, which handed the GOP enormous influence on gerrymandering and related acts.

7. Why were there such drastic losses during the Obama Presidency? I suspect that the main answer is complacency among the Democratic party. "We have arrived in a post-racial America." The fervor of the Tea Party likely contributed to those gains.

8. I understand that Obama was not into party building. I'd like to see a definitive study on what happened in those years. In any case, that complacency, plus Russian meddling led to the shock of the 2016 election.

9. In the years since we have all come to realize the nature and makeup of Trump's base. They will never abandon him and will likely become more radical as the years go by.

10. This is where Kennan's containment strategy comes into play. Never again should we allow Trumpism to gain power. This means relentless party and coalition building for the next 25 years or so.

11. Until the GOP leaves white supremacy and authoritarianism behind, they should be contained and relegated to minority status for the foreseeable future. Reduce them to regional party status and keep them there.

12. At the same time, encourage division and chaos within their ranks to keep them occupied. Shifting coalitions will need to be maintained to contain the GOP. Ideally, they should never have a majority in the House or the Senate for the next few decades.

13. The Democratic Party should also strive to gain a majority of statehouse seats as well. It's doable. Containment, containment, containment.