I always get a bit amused when centrist dudes (Tom Edsall, here) start freaking out.
Assuming that the past six weeks are predictive of what’s coming next, expect an age of anxiety, expect the elimination of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of jobs, expect the decimation of liberal institutions to go on for all four years of Trump’s second term, expect government services to deteriorate, expect reduced funding of the safety net, expect more homelessness, hunger and disease. Expect poverty, expect the financial starvation of universities and of nongovernmental organizations, expect unannounced raids, unreliable data, an America increasingly aligned with authoritarians worldwide, expect a pervasive climate of suspicion and a preoccupation with revenge. Expect more suffering, more fear, less security and less happiness
In other words, expect the worst.
I'm not a mindreader, so perhaps this is unfair to Tom, but I suspect if, I dunno, Chris Hayes had made that prediction 2 months ago, Tom would have thought it was ridiculous hysteria.