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Aint no tea party. Photo: Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

For American liberals, checking the news has become an act of masochism. To scroll through your Facebook feed is to be reminded that a racist clown has the nuclear codes; America is soul-sick; and the moral arc of the universe bends toward the sun swallowing the Earth.

Even when the monotonous parade of terrible developments is broken up by a feel-good story, the effect can feel akin to lighting a single stick of incense in a room where Steve Bannons morning breath is forever flowing through the vents.

Take the protests that broke out at airports all across the country last weekend. The Trump administration came for the refugees, and the American people spoke out. At JFK International in New York, thousands gathered outside Terminal 4 to show their support for those being detained. Within hours, a court order had provided a measure of relief to a small subset of those affected by the White Houses mindless cruelty.

As the protestors celebrated, it was possible to believe that the authors of this fiasco might pay dearly for it.

And then, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 49 percent of Americans agreed with Trumps executive order, while only 41 percent disagreed.

So, no question, the state of the union is weak as hell. The stench of Bannon breath is overwhelming. But theres reason to think that the seeds those protestors planted will eventually allow liberals to smell the flowers.

The first wave of anti-Trump actions may not have freed America from the spell of post-9/11, anti-Muslim fearmongering. But it did inspire Democrats to increase their political involvement while also securing more than twice as much popular support as the tea party had in April 2010.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that 57 percent of the public heard a lot about the Womens March a result that suggests the anti-Trump demonstrators attracted as much attention in a single day of protests as the tea party movement did through months of organizing and demonstrations. Polls from Pew Research Center in 2010 found that just 31 percent of voters had heard a lot about the right-wing movement in March of that year, with awareness of the group reaching a peak of 54 percent, just before the midterm elections in October.

And the Womens March didnt just make a bigger impression than the tea party they also made a better one.

As liberals are painfully aware, being more popular with the public is no guarantee of electoral success. After all, nonvoters are disproportionately Democratic. To make America already great again, liberals wont just need to win over a majority of voters theyll also need to mobilize them, starting in the 2018 midterms.

But the Post poll has excellent news on that front, too: 40 percent of Democratic women say they plan to get more involved in political causes this year. Only 25 percent of all American adults, and 27 percent of Democratic men (sigh), say the same. Democrats under 50 particularly those who lean left are also planning to step up their game in large numbers.

The tea party had some advantages that the anti-Trump left lacks among them, the Koch networks vast resources and the fact that conservative, white, middle-class retirees have more free time to spend on politics than your average, non-old Democrat.

But todays left has its own strengths. Its enemy is the least popular new president in American history; it has years of organizing by Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street, and other Obama-era social movements to build on; and its policy goals are more appealing and coherent than Keep the government out of my Medicare.

Theres a lot of bad news coming down the pike. But if liberals can find in it cause for mobilization instead of demoralization theyll have a lot of happy headlines to read in November 2018.

Its official: Americas top diplomat is now Vladimir Putins favorite Exxon CEO!

Prime Minister Theresa May is one step closer to meeting her March 2017 deadline.

One vote away from keeping the billionaire heiress to the Amway fortune from becoming Education Secretary.

A week after Trump signed his executive order calling for its construction to be completed.

Starting with President Trumps Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.

Trumps nominee would be the 34th Episcopalian to serve on the Court. But its been a while.

Henry VIIIs powerful adviser did change history. But he also came to a bad end.

He previously clerked for current Justice Anthony Kennedy.

The Womens March is twice as popular as the tea party once was and Democratic women are increasing their political engagement in large numbers.

After a Democratic boycott, Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee changed the rules so they could advance the cabinet nominees by themselves.

Thats not the America I believe in. Thats not who we are.

On Prospect Park West.

Trump hasnt put an official spokesperson on the network in weeks.

He declared hes dismantling Obamacare, building a wall, and ending sanctuary cities, but that doesnt necessarily mean it will happen.

An administration official said Harley-Davidson didnt want to deal with demonstrators, but the company denied that.

Progressives are demanding that Senate Democrats do everything they can to block Gorsuch, though hell almost certainly wind up on the Court.

If they dont make him change the rules, hell make them do it, then blame them.

His nominee, Neil Gorsuch, is a natural successor on the Supreme Court.

A draft executive order would allow the government to deport visa holders who receive public benefits.

A meet the breeds event.

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This Poll Is the Best News Liberals Have Had In a Long Time - New York Magazine