As expected, Joe Biden—former Veep and two time failed presidential candidate—has officially thrown his hat back into the ring. According to most, he’s already the frontrunner despite the fact that, unlike candidates Elizabeth Warren and to a lesser degree Bernie Sanders, Biden hasn’t proposed any substantial policies or reasons he should be elected other than he was tight with Barack Obama and we need to get rid of Trump.
Sure, it’s still very early and a lot can happen between now and the Democratic Convention—hell, a lot could happen between now and next Tuesday. But the suspiciously excessive interest that Democrats currently have in white dude candidates should be worrying to everyone in the party.
Check out this chart put together by FiveThirtyEight that combines figures from two recent polls (Quinnipiac and Granite State) that gives us a peek at who your average Democrat thinks will be most electable in 2020. It’s important to note that the people who are considered to be “most electable” (or, most likely to defeat Trump) aren’t necessarily these voters’ first choice. From FiveThirtyEight:
As you can see, most of the voters who participated in this poll really favor white guys, with the only person of color/woman piquing any of their interest is Kamala Harris. At the same time, their faith in her ability to beat Trump isn’t exactly inspiring.
So what’s behind this sudden uptick in love for white dudes when it wasn’t all that long ago (the 2018 midterms, in fact) that Democrats were pushing for and celebrating women and people of color being elected to Congress? There’s been a sea-change, and part of it is due to the Mueller Report and the slow disintegration of faith in our Democratic leaders.
Even though we were constantly warned since the early days of Trump’s presidency that we have to watch out for his abhorrent behavior being normalized, that’s exactly what’s happened. Remember when we were calling our congresspeople daily, demanding they push back against Trump’s racist policies (such as his Muslim travel ban)? That practice has all but stopped since the midterms—unless everyone has been calling their Democratic leaders to force them to begin impeachment hearings, and I haven’t heard about it?
Since the big Mueller Report reveal, the reaction from both political parties has been infuriatingly predictable: The GOP continues to lie and ignore the report, while the Dems reliably tip-toe along with slow, deliberate caution as Trump continues to violate every presidential norm and commit what could be lasting harm.
What’s all this got to do with the above chart? That chart is an interesting snapshot of where our heads currently are as Democrats. In the face of Trump seemingly “getting away with it,” with only lackluster pushback from a Democrat-controlled Congress, and our own feelings of impotency/unwillingness to get involved, many of us are willing to take the easiest, most familiar route possible to getting Trump removed from office: relying on a white guy to save us.
A lot of seemingly “level-headed” people are temporarily placing their moral compasses aside, warning that our dreams of having a clearly qualified woman (Hi, Elizabeth) or person of color (Hi, Kamala) going head-to-head against the president will only push undecided voters into Trump’s camp—thereby playing into the same racist, misogynist views we’re fighting against.
Again, it’s very early. But now is not the time to throw in the towel, along with the beliefs we held so strongly in the midterms. Sure, Biden could beat Trump—and if you’re only looking for someone to reliably clean up the garbage he left behind, then Biden wouldn’t be the worst choice you could make. However, it’s our job as Democrats and Americans to keep pushing this country forward, not fall back on old ways just because it may currently feel politically safe and expedient. Republicans are seemingly incapable of self-examination, which is why it’s especially important for Democrats to ask ourselves the hard questions, such as: Why are we picking a less-substantive white dude? And more importantly, what does that say about us?
This post has been up for nearly half an hour and none of you have yet ‘splained to Steve why “this kind of talk is what got Orange Julius Caesar elected in the first place!” Will no one tout the middle-of-the-road (where the white guys live) as the sure path to victory? I expected more…or maybe it was less. Hmmm.
The left playing identity politics is sure to beat Trump!
This article is so dumb… must be a slow “news” day at The Mercury.
“Slow news day” is the most tired and lazy comment still being peddled these days. Step up your game Doug.
@jim: If you have the time to respond to comments, does that not prove that it is, in fact, a slow “news” day? Shouldn’t you be working or something? 😉
I like Elizabeth Warren. Gotta give her credit for putting forth some good policy ideas. But she lacks charisma. Maybe if we’re lucky she ends up as VP. As for Kamala Harris… she may be black but she is no Obama.
My prediction: it’s going to be Biden vs Sanders for the nomination. This remains newsworthy in its own right as the continuing battle between the centrist vs progressive wings of the party, essentially a replay of 2016. Right now Biden wins it. The question is how much will the Democratic Party piss off Bernie supporters (again)? Will the Bernie supporters vote for Biden, 3rd party, stay home, Trump? They likely swung the election last time. What has changed? Trump has proved to be more incompetent than expected, hasn’t drained the swamp, and has been too strong a supporter of Israel. That might be enough to keep the Bernie Bros in the Democratic fold. But maybe not.
I am one of those people on the left who “sold out” last election and voted for Hillary Clinton. I voted for Bernie in the primaries. Regardless, I had to listen to countless Bernie supporters (and to the contrary to the over-arching late election news cycle spin, a substantial swath of those hollering at me were, in fact, not “bros” nor “dudes” (rendered by you in the acrid tone of contempt and tired, understated blogger snark, of course.) No, they were women. Many of whom loved going on and on about topics such as male privilege, entitlement, etc
I knew this would happen, though.
I knew that we would end up at a point where the left would become so brow-beaten by the Trump administration and the reality distortion field surrounding his public persona that lefties would decide to “play it safe” early-on in the next election. To this I have to ask: where the hell was your newfound inner-placater after the last primaries? We coulda used it, then. That was when it was time to compromise.
It drives me crazy to watch the overall incompetence of the left-wing zeitgeist when it comes to actually organizing instead of infighting like rabid hyenas interbred with bitchy “mean girls” and stumbling over each other to out virtue-signal for “woke” social media points, thinking you are “drawing out and expelling the ‘imposters and wolves in sheep’s clothing’ from among your ranks.”
Guess what people? Right now—BEFORE the primaries—is the exact time we should be playing with the “Overton Window.” I’m an “old,” “entitled,” “gross” “dude” and am asking you, for the love of God, to not fuck this up and try being extra radical for awhile. Right now is the exact time to let your freak flag fly. Not AFTER the primaries, when it’s time to pull together like grownups.
It’s like negotiating for pay, or haggling: start by asking for more first, then back-peddle later. If you short-change yourself from the outset, you are definitely not going to get what you want in the end. Unless of course, you are actually into neoliberal economics and are pining for yet another centrist Democrat.
So go out there and raise hell! Support Warren, support Kamala, support Sanders. I really don’t care. Complain about climate change, student loan debt, and capitalism. Better than yet another god-damned think piece about “man-spreading” or whatever the hell it was you were going on about before 2016, when you realized there is trouble in the “first-world.” I may be toxic, but you bet your ass if you start talking about student loans I’m going to listen. The difference between you and Warren is that she actually has something to offer besides 140 character “hot takes” written by a cat lady who bitches about capitalists while striving to become one.
In summary: think about how much you hate me and let that hate flow through you and guide your actions accordingly! Then, let’s be total bros after the midterms just long enough that we can tell this crony capitalist: “you’re fired!”