This piece by Dana Milbank makes a good, but tricky, point. Trump is a racist, but calling him that explicitly might backfire against Democrats among persuadable voters. Similarly, ignoring his racism might depress turnout among Democratic faithful. Milbank goes on to note that there are ways of talking about Trump's racism that work better than just using the term racist. There is good evidence that using the word racist can backfire and shut down important conversations. Once racism is on the table, there's no progress.
A few caveats though. Are there really persuadable voters who react negatively to calling Trump a racist? Possibly, there are some of the Obama/Trump WWC voters who can be turned back. My guess is those voters like Biden. OK, Republicans reject the idea that the Confederacy was racist. Who gives a fuck? If you can't see that the Stars and Bars is a racist symbol, then you need to change. You need to be educated that it is. Of course, simply calling someone racist, again, stops the educative process.
I do think Milbank is on to something when he talks about framing Trump's actions as fundamentally Unamerican. That fits into a broader frame: immigration is American; standing up to dictators is American; good government is American. Trump is corrupt and he is racist, but it might work better in a different frame.
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