Biden task one: Look and sound competent. Done.
Task two: say who he represents. Answer: all of the people of America, even those who didn't vote for him.
Biden is a moderate.
It is possible that some readers who are fully committed to opposing Biden at all costs will insist on seeing him as caricatured by Trump, as a raving liberal socialist. He isn't one. He is a moderate, centrist, professional politician. He will be whatever the political consensus of the center left will allow.
For better or worse, he is a weathervane. If the politics of the nation allow more immigrants to move to citizenship, he will lead that. If not, he won't, because he cannot. The votes won't be there.
The gay marriage policy change was archetypal Joe Biden. He--not Obama--led that. Biden's public comments took Obama by surprise and pushed a tentative and unwilling Obama into seconding the suggestion of his VP. What was Biden doing? His antenna told him that public opinion had changed and the politicians were trailing behind the public. Biden was right. The country was ready for marriage equality, so Biden was ready.
Biden has the instincts of a legislator. Find the moving center of balance among the left majority and be in it, help lead it. It isn't showy because it is leading the center, not the edge. People way ahead or behind the moving center will add to the mix and move the center, but it is the center that has the votes to govern.
Biden showed who he was with blunt body language. The featured spots at the convention included Republicans who were abandoning Trump: Colin Powell, Meg Whitman, and John Kasich. Speaking shortly before Biden in a very high visibility place was Michael Bloomberg, who noted that he wasn't a very partisan guy, sometimes a Republican, sometimes a Democrat, sometimes an Independent.
Some on the left consider bipartisan comity a capitulation. The poor stay poor, people of color stay oppressed, the rich get richer. As Barry Goldwater said, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.
Biden did not mention the violence in the streets of Portland. He had an opportunity to define a position against a left that argues that maybe a little violence is necessary to get people's attention, and more generally that urban rioting is dangerous and wrong. Instead, he remained silent. This was not a "Sister Souljah" speech.
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| Fox News image of Biden. |
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got just over a minute to speak. Bernie Sander got more time, on Thursday in a panel among the other prominent also-rans in the nomination fight. They were smiling and cheering Biden, Democrats getting along. Democrats who want to promote big change weren't opposed; they were bypassed.
We now have clarity of the four big choices facing America.
Choice number one is Trump, who embraces a conflict model of American politics. There are good people and enemies of those good people. We are in a war and he is the brave general leading that war, defending the good people against socialists, tax-raisers, environmental crazies, urban violence, low income people invading suburbs, China, Mexico, NATO, Antifa, and fake news. Lots of enemies.
Choice number two is Biden, who embraces a consensus model of American politics, where legislators compromise and build coalitions to grope into the better, more just, more prosperous future. Firebrands on the fringes put up ideas that get digested and absorbed into the governing middle, but they aren't the serious people who govern.
Choice number three is the semi-orphaned progressive left. Biden cannot please them, he realizes. They want change that is simply legislatively impossible. Even the ACA is hanging on by a thread. Sanders asks the left to support Biden. Some will, some won't. Many are dug in, considering Biden worse than Trump. Biden gave them little to be excited about. But Trump calls the left the enemy of the people, and beats Biden up by saying that they in fact pull the strings on Biden. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and maybe that will move a few to support Biden.
Choice number four are the anti-Trump conservatives. Never Trumpers. They see Trump as a profound mis-direction for Republicans who are sacrificing the safeguards of democracy in order to get--what?? A few judges who will be activists for the right. Tax cuts for the wrong people. An amplifier of racial and ethnic conflicts. A demagogue. These are Reagan Republicans, not Trump Republicans. There may be a few of them left. Biden's campaign tilts to them.
Biden has one great advantage. Biden's campaign theme is peace and unity. Trump makes angry denunciation of enemies, foreign and domestic. That creates a dilemma for Trump. The angrier and more effective Trump tweets, the harsher his campaign, the more he makes Biden's case that the president is an angry man. Four years of it may be enough.
10 comments:
If the Democratic convention was the defendant's closing argument, then next week's GOP convention will likely be the prosecution's. It may be a lot more interesting, notable for who doesn't show up as well as who does. I suspect there's a short list of those who are willing to be tied to Trump for all eternity by endorsing him on national TV, so other than the My Pillow guy I'm not sure who we'll see.
As a telethon or infomercial the Democratic convention was familiar to viewers and probably successful in its main goal to not crash and burn. The main message was turnout, with little policy substance that I could discern, but like a lot of people I didn't watch all that much. As of this morning the Democratic edge hasn't budged, in fact down a tick, so we'll have to see about the bounce.
There's chatter about how the "far left" has moved Biden...don't believe it.
"Some on the left consider bipartisan comity a capitulation. The poor stay poor, people of color stay oppressed, the rich get richer.' Yup.
Neoliberalism is a failure, it polarized the country, decimated the Democratic party and paved the way for Trump. Looks like it will get another shot.
Bernie Sanders said a new policy platform unveiled by Joe Biden will make the presumptive Democratic nominee the 'most progressive president' since Franklin Roosevelt.
Sanders was referring to a series of platform recommendations for the Democratic Party that were put together by the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Forces - a series of groups formed after the primary process to bring together the moderate and progressive wings of the party.
'These folks needless to say people represented the progressive movement have a different perspective on things than the Biden's people, but there was serious discussion. And I think a real honest effort to come up with a compromise. And I think the compromise that they came up with, if implemented will make Biden, the most progressive president since FDR,' Sanders said on MSNBC Wednesday night.
The vibe I am picking up on Twitter essentially paints Biden as Moses leading the flock to the promised land.
Desperation (against the conservative populist rebel yell of yesteryear) has driven our conception of the republic to an odd place.
“Biden is Exactly Who You'd Expect Systemic Racism to Produce”
“America is ready *** to do the hard work of rooting out systemic racism,” Biden said last night in his acceptance speech, paraphrasing the late John Lewis. In truth, Biden should have said "let me be the last vestige of systemic racism in the Democratic Party".
Here is my definition of systemic racism in presidential candidate selection: "A system in which party members, including Blacks, are persuaded by party elites and mega donors that only a white man can win the election at hand". When challenged on the insidious results of systemic racism, party members are wont to say "most Black voters agreed". From the times of Booker T. Washington and WEB DuBois, and forward to Malcom X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Black leaders have denounced the central oppression of systemic racism-- conditioning Blacks to allow white elites to define racial progress. This history and then the legacy of Jim Crow was the electoral choice given to Blacks – which white male candidate to support. The feminist movement has voiced the same criticism in allowing a while male power structure to define gender progress. Thus, Barrack Obama was deemed “electable” in the rare context of a woman being his only credible opponent.
In 2019, the Democratic elites had it doubly easy to deploy the systemic racist and sexist messaging of “only a white male can defeat Trump”, not a Black or Hispanic male; and certainly not any female. “Only a white male can win”. Yes, only Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders. We are in this election cycle steeped in an insidious 21st Century “new Jim Crow”. Play it safe—nominate a 78 year old white man. Indeed, that is the essence of “electoral safety” in a systemically racist system.
Listening to the painfully hollow rhetoric of his centrist, moderate, same-old-same-old acceptance speech, Biden seemed exactly the expected product of systemic racism, sexism and unconscious white male supremacy. The media declines to call our party's elite to task for not resolving the logical contradiction and hypocrisy in the proposition that only a white male can win against Trump, a president who is perpetually underwater on his voter approval rating and who is perceived as almost certainly a one term president. With such a weak and statistically unpopular opponent as Trump, this was exactly the year in which we should have nominated a woman of color. Put differently, if not in 2020 against one of the most unpopular and vulnerable incumbent presidents of all time, then when? When will we agree to nominate a woman of color if not now? This is not a conundrum, this is the most basic workings of a systemically sexist and racist political system.
I found it galling to have Biden be our party's voice of racial and gender liberation. It is the embodiment of post-modern Jim Crow subterfuge. And in all likelihood, there's the paradox. Rather than nominating a youthful, inspiring and invigorating woman of color in this "year of the woman of color", the slow, corrosive nature of systemic racism yields up a tired, boring, low energy, low leadership old white male. We have nominated one of the least likely candidates to defeat Trump. We have given Trump a punching bag to run against.
Joe Biden's acceptance speech last night was, like the candidate himself, an embarrassment to our party. Obviously we were not ready this year "to do the hard work of rooting out systemic racism”.
To Thad Guyer, - Remember that Kamala Harris is next, maybe by design, as possibly Joe Biden will not be able to finish 8 years.
I agree with Peter that the one main thing Joe had to accomplish was to eliminate the "Sleepy Joe" taunts of trump, or at least to calm the fears of many that he is senile or weak. Mission accomplished! He was energetic and eloquent.
I went to the Twitter account of trump afterwards and scrolled and trolled a while. It seems in several of the fake interviews with the person on the street, that the thrust will now be more on how Biden was in office for over 40 years and "he accomplished nothing". This is not true, of course, but it is being used anyway.
Thad. So you’ll be voting Trump?
Thad. So you’ll be voting Trump?
"Answer: I will not vote for Joe Biden"
Unknown, thank you very much for asking that question. Here are my answers.
First, I am praying that Biden will not be on the ticket. If he debates Trump I expect him to be removed, pressured to withdraw, or claim a health crisis that takes him off the ticket. That would resolve my moral issue in refusing to support systemic racism. However, if he does not debate Trump, I expect he will remain on the ticket, in which case I must go to the second aspect of this and face that moral issue.
Second, unfortunately, the presidential and vice-presidential candidates are presented on the ballot as a single vote. Tis itself is a vestige of systemic racism and sexism. If I were to vote, I would not vote for Biden, but I would vote for Senator Harris, which means that my vote for her would be counted as a vote for him. I would feel sickened by that. All I could do is state publicly through this blog that I am not voting for Biden, I am voting for the only women of color that I can. I could not vote for Biden because I cannot support the systemic racism that gave him the nomination.
Third, thankfully there is no need for me to vote the presidential ticket at all. I will not be voting for any presidential candidate since voting for Harris would force me to commit an act of systemic racism and give a vote to Biden. But because I am registered in deep blue Seattle, Washington, even if 10,000, 100,000 or 400,000 people did the same, it would have no effect since Hillary won by about 500,000 votes in Washington in 2016. I can vote the rest of the ballot, and cause my non-vote to register as an “under-vote”, a clear protest vote in not marking anyone’s name in the presidential voting field.
I urge everyone I know in California, Washington and Oregon and other deep blue states to not vote for Joe Biden. As to my friends in other states, I think you are justified by the philosophical rule of "choice of evils" to vote for Harris, and thus be coerced to give a vote to Biden. If we don't stand up to systemic racism in one of the few opportunities we have— voting-- then we can never transition away from our post-modern Jim Crow that oppresses and subjugates women and people of color, and tell children in those groups that "to protect our rights, we must vote for white men".
Four, I have decided to never again vote for a white male on the presidential ballot. I want my “under vote” to count as a call to action to do what we can to end systemic racism and sexism. The under-vote is a rare opportunity to vote against systemic racism and sexism. Exercise it.
Thad, the idea is to win, not be idealistic. According to you, the Far Left should take over. That's not a winning plan. Middle America is not ready for that yet. However, with Harris as the VP, she will be noticed and listened to. She will be admired. She will be Joe's right hand "man". She will ease in. The country will get used to hearing her. I think people will like her. Then, and only then, will the country be ready for a black female president in 4 years. Just not now.
Agree peter c. It’s that old saying about the perfect being the enemy of the good. The goal it to avoid catastrophe of more trump
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