As we look forward to yet another presidential election this year, we should do so with a clear understanding of its importance for our republic and a sober look at the elements that will factor in its eventual outcome.
As was the case in 2016 and 2020, the Democratic candidate will be faced with the formidable task of turning back the representative of a growing tide of ethnocentric, America First sentiment in the person of Donald Trump whom also pledges to replace our democracy with the installment of an authoritarian/totalitarian regime dedicated to one party rule, the suppression of free expression, retaliation against his political adversaries whom he regards as mortal enemies, the persecution of mainstream and independent journalists, the continued brutal assault on women’s reproductive rights, the appointment of governmental officials/cabinet members/court judges based more on blind allegiance to the seat of power than on individual qualification, the open embrace of radical white supremacist militias (the current version of Hitler’s Brown Shirts), the promise to declare martial law and bring the full force of the US military against otherwise organized and legal redress of grievances, the elimination of the judicial system as an impartial arbiter, continued relentless and vile mendacity, and the reshaping of society from a self governing entity into one characterized by an obedience not to the rule of law but rather to the will of one authoritarian figurehead. Even more alarming is that the above description of what is to be expected from another Trump administration is likely more understatement than hyperbole.
Another concerning factor in the upcoming political contest is the question surrounding the viability of the opposition to the imminent threat posed by the Republican cadindate. As was the case in both the unsuccessful campaign of 2016 and the retaking of the presidency in 2020, the Democrats chose to nominate decidedly centrist candidates as the ‘safe’ alternative to Bernie Sanders and the evolving progressive wing of the Party. As observed here on several occasions, they did so at the risk of alienating an emerging electorate, most notably among the 18-32 demographic. This tactic met with mixed results as Hilary Clinton was increasingly viewed unfavorably by independent voters, particularly in the crucial swing states, and subsequently lost the election to Trump who emerged as an unlikely populist candidate representing a groundswell of nationalistic sentiment largely based upon the fear of losing an imagined identity as a singularly dominant, cultural voice in favor of the reality of a multicultural and multiracial presence widely expressing itself throughout society.
In 2020, as the nation was reeling in the wake of Trump’s staggeringly
inept and corrupt ‘leadership’, the Democratic establishment locked arms around yet another centrist candidate in the form of Party loyalist Joe Biden and effectively terminated the Sanders campaign in dramatic fashion in the wake successive Sanders’ victories in both Iowa and New Hampshire primaries when South Carolina Representative James Clyburn famously threw his enormous political weight (together with ‘behind the scenes’ urging from former President Obama) in favor of Biden resulting in a cascade of lock step support (eg Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, and a host of Party regulars) to a heretofore faltering candidacy. This turn of events prompted long time Democratic operative James Carville to suggest that the primary process should effectively be suspended by declaring: ‘its now time to shut this puppy down and rally behind Joe Biden (see the Supreme Court’s 2000 decision to suspend the incomplete vote count in Florida via their ruling in the Bush vs Gore case) to the dismay and chagrin of millions of loyal Sanders supporters who were now cast aside by party regulars dedicated to capturing the slim yet significant portion of the electorate, namely those independent voters lost to Trump in 2016, at the expense of an emerging, popular and progressive voice within its ranks. The tactic was ultimately successful in recapturing the White House while also further risking the alienation of its progressive constituency. In deference to this group, the Democratic Party did insert progressive elements into its official platform (eg environmental and reproductive rights provisions) to assuage an otherwise abandoned segment of the Party and thereby formed a vital coalition of support necessary to defeat the authoritarian/fascistic spectra of another Trump term.
In the ensuing four years, the Biden Administration has presided over an greatly improved economy with the overall growth at 5.9% since 2021, the unemployment rate at a very low 3.7%, rate of inflation at 3.35%, significantly down from the previous year, the creation of 14 million new jobs, and real wage increase by 2% over the rate of inflation. On the legislation level, the American Rescue Plan has contributed greatly to the economic recovery in the post-pandemic; the Infrastructure/Investment/Jobs Act has further stimulated the economy with job growth and important changes to the nation’s roads, bridges, transit lines, airports, and waterways. The administration also turned its attention to environmental concerns with the enactment of the Build Back Better provision, which served to strengthen the electric grid matrix throughout the country. These accomplishments have oddly gone unnoticed by large segments of the population resulting in an historic low approval rating of a siting President. These findings might be the consequence of a public subjected to a barrage of misinformation from a myriad of media sources dedicated more to pandering to and influenced by an audience that has been convinced that the current government is part of some gran conspiracy whose intent is to end individual freedom and national identity. It is no wonder then that the positive factual elements of the current administration have been overshadowed by this miasma of imagined threat and impending doom. One of the mandates going forward will be to actively announce the very real accomplishments of the Biden Administration as a counter to the pernicious network of deliberate misinformation so ubiquitous throughout right wing media sources.
That said, the apparent unpopularity of another Biden candidacy might also be a result of his policy to support the Willow Project, which has given the green light to further oil drilling above the Arctic Circle in direct contradiction to his 2020 campaign pledge to never drill for oil on protected federal land. This has further eroded support among young environmentalists already skeptical of his past record of ‘playing both sides against the middle’ in an attempt to accommodate often distinct sides of a given issue. In addition, the Biden Administration has further alienated this vital constituency by its support of an Israeli government conducting a wildly disproportionate response (at least 15,000 civilians killed) to the brutality (1139 slain) perpetrated by Hamas on October 7th of last year. All recent surveys have confirmed that the current administration is viewed unfavorably by a young voter population already distrustful of a candidate with whom they cannot relate in terms of age discrepancy and a sense of commonality with respect to vision and lived experience. Add to this, a growing gap between young progressives and a status quo Democratic leadship that longer is regarded as representing their interests or, more importantly, has a real understanding of their experience as the inheritors of an uncertain future. As a consequence, the real danger here is that significant numbers of young voters will simply stay away from an election in which their interests are not perceived to be represented. If this scenario is allowed to unfold in 2024, the Democratic Party faces the very real risk of losing a vital part of the constituency it will require to defeat an incipient fascism on the verge of metastasizing throughout the body politic.
The task ahead for the Democratic Party in response to the existential threat to the democratic system as we have come to know it by Trump’s Republican Party is clear: it must rally all available resources to bring out a vote encompassing a broad spectrum of the American electorate. The positive accomplishments of this administration must be underscored by a nationwide effort to disseminate factual truths as an antidote to pervasive Trumpian prevarications. This will entail convincing dishearten traditional and young progressives who otherwise feel disconnected from a political process that is perceived to be less responsive to their immediate concerns (authentic and urgent attention to the global environmental crisis, courageous measures to finally provide universal health care, continued efforts to restore a woman’s right to choose, meaningful measures to recognize and protect the rights of the otherwise marginalized LBGTQ+ community, a long overdue reassessment of spending priorities aimed at a reallocation of resources; especially as it pertains to a DOD’s wasteful cost overruns and its role as the leading global supplier of armament, a rejection of a time-honored zero sum mentality that holds that one’s success must be achieved at the expense of another’s failure, promoting the collective value of the common good over the acquisition of excessive individual wealth, and full adoption of the vision of a society made stronger and more sustainable by virtue of its diversity and its embrace of our common humanity). To ignore this clarion call for a genuine paradigm shift not only risks the further alienation of our younger population but, more importantly, helps create the very real possibility of installing a dangerous authoritarian regime in the short run and an ongoing fascistic presence well into a future in dire need of careful, intelligent, and farsighted leadership.
In full light of the aforementioned considerations implicit in the 2024 presidential race, it becomes clear that what is at stake in this crucial year of decision is existential in nature and predictive of the very quality of life that Americans can expect to experience going forward. Our very survival as an free-functioning democracy depends on how we come to terms with the challenge before us and, in so doing, defines, to ourselves and to the world, our national identity. It must and likely will involve sober assessment, the unification of seemingly disparate elements, the possible enlistment of popular celebrities to rally otherwise reluctant voters, realistic appraisal of necessary compromise, and an honest reckoning with our essential values and the ways in which they can be made manifest at this pivotal moment in time.
