The Grand Illusion
Everyone will have some sort of take on the Democratic Presidential campaign after Super Tuesday… and the apparent political resurrection of Joe Biden from the “political dead.” I’m no exception, but my thoughts/points don’t fall into grand conspiracies, possibly because most theorized conspiracies don’t exist… and never have. Human greed, stupidity, and incompetence, along with blind and unthinking belief, usually do a better job of explaining events than conspiracies.
So… my observations…
First, no matter how smart and competent she is, Americans as a whole, even supposedly progressive Democrats, shy away from nominating or electing a woman. All this is disguised and rationalized by various “explanations.” “I’m for women, but not [that woman].” “I worry that a woman can’t stand up to Trump.” “I’m for women, but most people aren’t, and we need to win.” And those are just the beginning.
Second, most people – except those who feel they have nothing to lose – are leery of revolutionaries, because they want to keep what they have and are looking for improvement in their situation, not a total restructuring of their life by government. Trump’s appeal in 2016 was not that he was going to change things, but that he was going to “restore” things. Make American Great Again was code for putting minorities back in their place, restoring higher paying semi-skilled jobs [which couldn’t and didn’t happen], keeping out immigrants, and continuing to prop up the stock market and financial sector with cheap money.
The vote for Biden on Super Tuesday was a vote for incremental improvement. Support for Sanders in California and Nevada reflected how expensive life there is and how the young people and minorities there don’t see how mere incremental improvement will help with the problems they face.
Third, Americans are wary of detailed plans and programs. The results, at least to me, were a rejection of detail and of thoughtfulness. Almost meaningless rhetoric and generalities once again triumphed.
Fourth, young people talk and tweet a lot, but it’s the older people and a dedicated core of voters who show up and vote in higher percentages. Black voter numbers were up, as were suburban white voters, from the reports I’ve seen, but not numbers of young or Latino voters. Most black voters, particularly older black voters, studies and numbers show, are actually wary of radical political propositions and those who push them.
How all of this will play out in the months ahead is another question, especially if Elizabeth Warren stays in the race.
As was suggested in a number of publications, the Democracts should build a team of the Pres candidates into a full cabinet, P and VP, w possibly Warren as VP. Bernie is too much like Britain’s Labour Party Jeremy Corbin, who was popular in pre election polls, but was entirely abandonned by the electorate giving Boris Johnston a massive majority
Since MAGA contributed to record low minority unemployment, how is that codeword* for “putting minorities back in their place”? (an absurd notion that any but a few nuts in pointy hoods and the like would even think that possible, since at least post Civil-War+Civil Rights Act(s), someone’s place is what they make of it, even if the playing field isn’t nearly level yet)
(forgot the following from my last post)
* codeword being frequently a questionable notion anyway, insofar as if it sounds superficially innocent, then probably a sizable portion of those hearing it or using it do so innocently, even if some few (and good luck proving they’re being pandered to) don’t.
I don’t question that some may use words or phrases that way intentionally. But it’s a convenient damaging assertion to make that someone is doing so, since it can’t be disproved, and reinforces what people are prone to believe anyway.
Because codewords are superficially innocent, that’s why they’re used. Tell me that a President who would openly claim that there were “good people” in Nazi demonstrations or who has persistently used derogatory terms for immigrants, even those here legally,isn’t appealing to the worst. Or that a President who has tried to roll back every environmental standard that he can, with no discernible impact on coal use or production, but a definite negative impact on health and the environment isn’t using codewords in support of big business profits and adverse health effects, which, a huge range of studies show, fall disproportionately on minorities. Or a President who supports an Education Secretary who opposes increased funding for schools with high minority populations while also pushing for funding charter schools and supporting for-profit colleges who’ve been proved to rip off their students.
He’s also ignoring that U.S. Citizens who are minorities regularly end up getting detained by ICE.
He always does.
Ignores and/ or dissembles. The usual BS from the GOP (read: tRump) base.
Nothing new going on there.