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REMOVING DONALD Trump is a big deal. It is relatively rare for a sitting president of the United States to be denied a second four-year term in the White House. George HW Bush was the last incumbent to suffer this unfortunate end in 1992.
Donald Trump is the most controversial president in memory. And it could be said that it was his ugly personality and improper behavior, coupled with the mishandling of Covid-19 by the administration, rather than any of his policies, that sealed his fate.
That key sliver of the electorate that neither loves nor detests man had enough of him and yearned for a calmer era and more measured leader.
Enter Joe Biden. After flirting with some of their rivals for their party’s nomination, the Democrats made the wise decision to opt for a high-level statesman who may have lost some speed on his fastball but retains the respect of an overwhelming majority of Americans. You face a difficult and unenviable task.
Without a clear Democratic victory
Important as it is, especially in terms of what he’s told the rest of a bewildered world, America’s decision to install Joe Biden as commander-in-chief is only one element of this choice.
The jubilant scenes on the city streets after everyone except President Trump and his thoughtless supporters realized he had lost were a justified release of tension and an expression of hope. However, Democrats can find little cause for celebration or optimism in the other election results.
Although some have pointed to an impressive gross number of votes or other promising indicators, the bottom line remains. The Democrats, who hoped to take over the United States Senate, failed, barring big surprises in two upcoming elections in Georgia.
Prepared to expand their majority in the US House of Representatives, they lost seats. And the result was even bleaker locally.
In a postscript, that American left bible, The Nation magazine, put it bluntly: “Nowhere was the news worse than at the state legislative level, where despite unprecedented investment by Democratic organizations and outside groups, and the expectations that they would change from four to eight legislative bodies, or more, in a ‘blue wave’ election, the party lost ground. “
The Nation cites strategists who are to the point in their evaluations. “Bloodbath”, “shit show” and “there is no way to sweeten it” are some of the descriptions that are offered.
Progressive activists struggle to reach a defensible conclusion why.
Possible explanations have floated. Democrats were responsible to the end and did not participate, as Republicans did to great effect in Florida and elsewhere, in the running game because of the pandemic.
Their enemies lied and described them as socialists, communists, and anti-police. The party’s general message, mobilization attempts, and social media tactics were poor.
The reach of Latinos was weak. Joe Biden did not bring Democrats lower on the ballot with him because there was little enthusiasm for the 77-year-old personally.
The depth of disappointment is directly proportional to the general internal buoyancy prior to November 3. Democrats saw a president who they euphemistically viewed as a disgrace and who encouraged his wealthy supporters to pledge monumental sums of money to defeat him and put America on a radically divergent track.
What they believed to be Trump’s blatant misogyny and racism had spawned the #metoo and #BLM movements and would definitely drive turnout and translate into votes for the many women and people of color who were on the ballot.
As such, they don’t need to worry unnecessarily about traditional Democratic constituencies or try to persuade Trump’s bland, independent voters. A transformative choice was brewing.
As wrong as these primarily left-wing Democrats were in advance, their subsequent analysis may be even more wrong. The factors to which they attribute the defeat played a role.
But politics is a tough business and perception has always been more important than truth in campaigning. The question that has been carefully avoided is why were Trump and the Republicans so successful in caricaturing them as extremists?
For one thing, despite the prevailing journalistic narrative of two disagreeing Democratic camps, liberals like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez versus moderates like the Clintons and Biden, swing voters do not discern a sizable ideological gap between them. There may be differences in emphasis, style, and tone, but the two poorly constructed factions aren’t really that far apart on most themes.
Not being able to win the center
Real centrist Democrats are an endangered and widely despised species. That none of the aspiring party presidential nominees – when asked in a debate about Louisiana’s newly re-elected Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards – would welcome him and offer congratulations said it all.
The governor is pro-life and pro-guns. However, she has also fought tirelessly for equal pay for women and for better access to quality health care.
Source: SIPA USA / PA Images
Surely it is better to have a part-time ally than a full-time enemy. Why wouldn’t these so-called standard-bearers postulate that while they disagree with John Bel Edwards on all issues, his triumph shows that Democrats can compete and win in all 50 states when they adapt to deviations from dogma?
Here’s the reason for the silence on that stage of debate: The governor is a genuine Central American moderate, and thus persona non grata in the mindset of the wealthy coastal donors who write the checks and make the decisions.
Whether this proposition is true or not is irrelevant. This is what millions of middle, disgruntled voters and former Democrats perceive the most important. By rejecting John Bel Edwards, Joe Biden and company also despised them.
As long as this politically crucial segment of the population feels this way about what their natural home should be, the party will underperform, even on its good days. I am convinced that it is almost that simple.
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Of course, much has been said about the Republicans’ drift toward the far right and Trumpism and the fork in the road that the Republican Party is imminently facing. It has to be deeply disheartening for those whose conservatism is similar to that of Ronald Reagan.
On the contrary, there have been political benefits from this largely unforeseen and unintended realignment. Also, the re-election of two Republicans who are a long way from the rising right, Maine Senator Susan Collins and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, suggests that their store may be more open than that of the opposition at this time.
I’ll let them solve their own problems. For now, I am puzzled as to why my Democratic Party seems determined to make many of us feel unwanted. And I am absolutely stunned by the outright refusal to acknowledge the consequent political costs of doing so in the wake of the 2020 elections.
Larry Donnelly is a Boston attorney, professor of law at NUI Galway, and political columnist for TheJournal.ie.
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