In their despair at Donald Trump’s victory, liberal pundits are concluding that the masses, especially the working class, are irredeemably terrible. That’s apolitical nonsense.
Pundits are losing their minds, but I don't think the Democratic party leaders are giving up.
My hunch is that they are playing the long game. They are counting on three things. First, Trump's plans will crash the economy. Second, the Trump White House always turns on its own. Third, with a GOP trifecta there isn't much Democrats can do to stop Trump - for now.
So any demands they make now will be ignored, and even used in the future to blame Democrats as obstructionist. I think they are lying low and giving the GOP what they need to hang themselves. When the public is furious about the economy, it will be time to start making demands.
Basically, it's the political equivalent of the Willy Wonka gif
My hunch is that they're in denial, still trying to treat the situation as "business as usual," and will make for very surprised corpses when Trump's thugs put them up against the wall.
They kind of have to, I suspect. But it won't work. They'll see things go bad, put in their sound bite as "we need to do something about ___!" And the average American won't see it, and instead be inundated with right wing "Democrats are screwing it all up!" And not think of the logic that the Democratic party can't do anything. And they'll vote Republican again.