You won, if you say you won.
The headlines and the demeanor tell the story: “Democrats Caved”. Chuck Schumer looked defeated but resolute. Trump looked triumphant.
Trump calls it a "Schumer Shutdown!" and the Democrats' "Humiliating Defeat."
Trump calls it a "Schumer Shutdown!" and the Democrats' "Humiliating Defeat."
The message sent by all that is unmistakable. Democrats “lost” something. Meanwhile, Trump was crowing that he “won big.” Trump and Republicans defined the story as “Democrats favor illegal immigrants over Americans” and “Democrats favor uncontrolled immigration.”
Democrats did not lose when they “caved” on Monday. They lost when they allowed the frame of “Democrats support illegal immigrants over Americans.” They lost before the battle began.
Democrats at home watching MSNBC or out at a rally make a mistake when they take comfort from a poll that says Americans support the Dreamers. I am sure the polls are right when the question is asked. But American don’t want “uncontrolled immigration” and they don’t want people here illegally to disadvantage them, and that is how Trump framed the issue. Safety vs. "uncontrolled."
Why are Democrats so flat-footed in the message framing battle? Because they let Trump’s racist appeals to his base buffalo them into considering the immigration issue as a battle between white nationalist racists vs. brown immigrants. There is a politically safe and appropriate alternative frame: problem solvers and law-observers vs Republican dysfunction. But this starts with a premise that Democrats are loyal first of all to the law and problem solving, and not to their constituency groups. And it presumes that immigration is like medicine, that because it is powerful and needs to be taken as directed.
This should not be hard, but it is. Democratic pressure groups look like groups built around identity, not legal status. Brianna Joy Gray writes on this brilliantly in NY Magazine. Trump trolled Democrats into this, but playing identity politics is not the way out of the mess. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/11/identity-politics-cant-get-us-out-of-the-mess-racism-made.html
1 comment:
It's appalling to watch a President crowing about "winning"...
The politics of the shutdown kabuki dance centers around the Democrats losing Republicans on the second vote. Were they set up, something McConnell could have easily done, or did Schumer see some advantage in the defections?
The next round will be interesting. The fact of racism in the Democratic party is something that needs to be addressed, but when Progressives allow the use of the derogative "identity politics" they play into Regressive framing. The shadow of slavery hangs over every aspect of this issue, beginning with the inherent slavery of immigrant workers. Otherwise Progressive thinkers who try to minimize white supremacist attitudes as peripheral are making a mistake. The myth of "race" is a product of ignorance, and before any progress can be made this fundamental misconception has to be erased. It occurs to me that Obama could have been the voice that led us out of this darkness, but he was too cautious, fearing a backlash that happened anyway.
I have yet to hear Democrats tell the truth. Immigration, legal or otherwise, does not threaten anything. It would have been "solved" long ago if it did.
Post a Comment