The Fight is Just Beginning

November 11, 2020

 

While I realize that I’m exceedingly tardy in making this latest entry – so much so that this is more of a monthly update than it is a weekly – I promise it’s not for a lack of effort or desire. In the weeks leading up to this historic presidential election, I was riddled with what to write about as little else seemed important.

 

That’s not to say that I haven’t been hard at work on other projects – I most certainly have. But as all three are still in preliminary stages, I’m not quite ready yet to dish. 

 

In the meantime, I’m left to ponder the results of this election. I know, I know, not everything is fully tallied – but it should have been a landslide; it shouldn’t have been so close! Yes, it’s incredible that Biden received more votes than any candidate ever, that we won MI, WI, PA, AZ and most especially GA (thanks almost entirely to Stacey Abrams, Tamieka Atkins, Helen Butler, Nsé Ufot and Deborah Scott) – but one of the most important takeaways is that Trump is going nowhere; even if he goes quietly, the fervor behind him will not. He too set a record here: he received the most votes of any incumbent president ever, surpassing even Obama in 2012. Thus it should come as no surprise that his foul, belligerent stain will continue to soak the Republican party for many cycles to come. 

 

And now that we’re in power, as Democrats, it is our onus to both expound that stain, as well circumvent it from succeeding in the future.

 

We do not do that, however, by lambasting those left of center, also known – in America – as the “radical far left”. For one thing, Biden wouldn't have won without us. Full stop. For another, we have a label issue which has long pervaded this country. It’s not that we have an overabundance of political monikers, but rather that we have a discrepancy in connotations compared with the rest of the world. Bernie Sanders, for example, is not “far left” on any global metric; he’s actually considered moderate, just left of center – which shouldn't be a shock, as every other First World nation already has universal healthcare. President-elect Joe Biden, on the other hand (along with the majority of Democrats), is really a true conservative, distinctly right of what is considered to be the "center" – but not so far gone as to be deemed "extreme". Such a title is reserved for anyone right of Romney.

 

But ignoring that component, and circling back to “the left”: the DNC cannot afford to continue its carelessness, like allowing such balatrons as Claire McCaskill, Ana Navarro, John Kasich and Abigail Spanberger to speak on behalf of the party, espousing disparaging, false messaging regarding its progressive wing. Progressives are not the reason some Democrats lost in key races, nor why others only prevailed by razor thin margins. In fact, Donna Shalala, Kendra Horn, Abby Finkenauer, Collin Peterson, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Joe Cunningham, and Xochitl Torres Small were all incumbent Democrats who just lost their reelections, and all of them were opponents of Medicare For All and Defunding the Police – two core tenants of Progressivism.

 

Furthermore, we just saw every Democratic candidate who supports M4A win their reelection; we've seen progressive Representative-elects Jamal Bowman and Cori Bush best Eliot Engel and Lacey Clay, respectively; and back in April, Newsweek released a poll that said 69% of Americans support Medicare for All – including 46% of Republicans. What’s more, according to Fox exit polls – and yes, I said Fox – as of this election, 72% of Americans support a government run health care plan.

 

In short: the writing is on the wall. We cannot continue to ignore the giant progressive elephant wincing in the room – nor why most establishment Democrats seem so eager to dismiss it. One of the cornerstones of the average Trump voter is not being able to tell the difference, ethically, between his record and those of establishment Dems. And honestly, I understand that. We can celebrate Joe Biden and the historic Kamala Harris, but we cannot pretend that we haven’t forgiven them for ghastly, sinful deeds – the same way Trump’s base has forgiven him for…well, everything. Joe and Kamala may have more decorum, but Trump voters don’t care. They see that decorum as pompous affectation, and would rather the jamoke who “calls it like he sees it”. Even if he stumbles all along the way, and even if he lies more than any politician ever – they appreciate his candor and faux-populist agenda.

 

No, no one is perfect (nor would I ever suggest it), but on the whole, we, as a party – nay, as a nation – have to do better. We have to elect candidates who reflect the moral code we believe Trump so grossly perverted, in addition to fighting against bigotry of all kinds. Moreover, we have to be open and honest. We are in the Age of Information – it is all but impossible now to shroud blatant corruption. And unless we can be forthright in acknowledging that corruption, as it appears on both sides of the aisle (as well as in Mainstream Media), we will forever be entangled with our Republican counterparts in the “lesser of two evils” dichotomy.

 

We should never strive or even settle for that dichotomy. Every time we do, we lose moral high ground, and in turn, swaths of unaffected voters – as proven by this election.

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