Richard Fernandez suggests that the left is presently engaged in the neolithic strategy of stampeding the bison herd over the cliff so their carcasses can be eaten.

I describe it a little differently. I think they're acting more like an abusive spouse who believes that he can control his partner through unpredictable violent outbursts. The current escalation is a gigantic intimidation display, designed to scare voters into submission.

Battered spouses sometimes become very docile and self-abasing in hopes that by doing so they can make the abuser stop. That's the game the left is playing.

"Battered" U.S. voters have to ask themselves whether they are going to submit to the intimidation in hopes the abuse will cease, or whether they will be defiant and push back in the cause of decency and justice.  

If the left wins the election, the visibly violent outbursts will probably cease, but the abuse itself will continue in a more insidious form.