SHORT VERSION--ELECT JEB:

1. Truth and reconciliation. My first criterion is not a matter of policy or ideology. It should be an easy one: Tell the truth. The whole truth. As Josh Marshall has written at Talking Points Memo, we're going to need a full audit of everything that has transpired under the cover of darkness (and many, many defied subpoenas) in Trump's executive branch: "We simply cannot move forward as a society or a political system without a thorough accounting of the totality of what happened during this unparalleled era of lawlessness, corruption, and misgovernance." The Ukraine boondoggle was no doubt the tip of a very large iceberg. We could never be certain whether Trump was representing his financial and political interests, or the country's, while interfacing with world leaders such as the presidents of Turkey and China. He never separated himself from the Trump Organization, and barely pretended to; in fact, he funneled public money to it throughout his presidency. As we speak, Trump is corrupting, in more or less plain view, several government agencies in his re-election effort. ("Warp speed" vaccine by early November, anyone?)

The Republican Party in Trump's wake needs to own this legacy of corruption. And it needs to apologize to the public for abetting it and covering it up. An administration that was, from beginning to end, one gigantic conflict of interest would never have been tolerated if led by a Democrat. This will require a package of ethics and legislative reforms. [...]

4. Immigration and race. At a cost to both humanity and long-term economic growth, the Trump administration has managed to significantly reduce the rate of legal immigration to the U.S. For Trump and his odious racist handmaid Stephen Miller, I imagine this is a proud and deeply felt accomplishment. Yet it is mind-bogglingly stupid and counterproductive -- not to mention, in the case of refugees, immoral. The next Republican standard-bearer must reverse this course. As for the matter of what to do with 12 million undocumented workers, the solution is the same as it was in 2005. It is the same as it was when Mitt Romney desperately tried to avoid admitting it in 2012. And it is the same as it was when Sen. Marco Rubio layered some new perfume on it 2013: bring them out from the shadows, send them to the end of the line, collect back taxes where applicable -- and move the heck on from this godforsaken entanglement with white nationalism and restrictionism.

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