"That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the entire Torah. The rest is just commentary."
Rabbi Hillel the Elder, 110 BCE
"When people feel uncertain, they'd rather have someone strong and wrong than weak and right."
Bill Clinton, 2002 CE
Trump is on track to win back the presidency. Trump is the strong and wrong candidate. Biden is the weak and right one.
Radical simplification of the kind Rabbi Hillel offered gets us to the essence of the choice voters will make in November. The great majority of voters will follow the inertia of their party brand. Democrats vote for Democrats, Republicans vote for Republicans. The past decade demonstrates the power of party inertia. Everything that Republicans supposedly believed in for 50 years -- from Nixon through Reagan to Bush One, Dole, Bush Two, McCain, Cheney, Romney, and McConnell up to January 2016 -- got removed and replaced. A Republican voter of January 1 of 2016 should be a Democrat, except for the issue of abortion. My party right or wrong.
Democratic pundits are frustrated. The USA worked its way out of the Covid crisis very well by the standards of the rest of the developed world. Employment is strong, inflation has been defanged, and the stock market is high. But the public isn't feeling it.
Voters aren't giving Biden credit. Why? Bill Clinton said it. Biden does not look or sound like a strong leader. Biden is badly miscast for the role of 2024 Democratic candidate. He has a weak voice and he looks feeble. It is image and optics, but it is real. He doesn't look the part of a leader confidently leading America into the future. He isn't hope and change. He isn't Jack Kennedy.
Since Congress is so palpably ineffective, voters are attracted to an executive who appears willing and able to steamroll over opposition and get things done. Right and wrong can be hard to discern. Some people think it is high time for some cruel action on the border. Unengaged voters find reasons to question whether January 6 was really all that bad. What is not in question is Trump's arrogant, belligerent, damn-the-torpedoes strength of will. Trump says he will be a dictator on day one. He was boasting.
Democrats will stick with Biden, of course. He is what Democrats have, and you play your hand.
Their job will not be to show that he is right. They will try to show that he is strong. It is casting against type, and sometimes it works.
Their job will not be to show that he is right. They will try to show that he is strong. It is casting against type, and sometimes it works.
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9 comments:
I was just reading an article about our founding documents and then I read this blog. What an interesting contrast! I’m sure there were psychos when the Constitution was written because one of its intentions was to prevent them from taking over, but now a major political party has become completely dominated by one and too many Americans just can’t seem to get enough of his belligerence and lies.
There was a time in the not-too distant past when the Pledge of Allegiance actually meant something to both parties, but now Republicans’ image of patriotism is Trump hugging and smooching the flag with a horny smirk on his face. It’s beyond cringe-worthy. Then he made a coup attempt, and now they want to put him back in the White House instead of the Big House where he belongs.
As Benjamin Franklin described our government upon leaving the Constitutional Convention, “It’s a Republic, if you can keep it.”
It is still very early. After the winter doldrums, I predict things will change. President Biden may not "coast" to re-election, but I don't believe that most voters want to put a career criminal back on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Regarding the issue of age and ageism, Biden and the former occupant are close in age, so close that they could have been in high school together (I think I am remembering this correctly). Second, many Americans love, respect, admire and trust their grandparents. Young people loved Uncle Bernie, for example.
My idea for a t-shirt is an image of a Jack-o'-lantern that resembles the Orange Menace (slit eyes with white paint under them, his infamous round mouth, straw glued on top for hair) behind bars. The t-shirt can say something like "He belongs behind bars, not in the White House." Halloween is only a few days before the general election.
Democrats need to get out the vote. Democrats have many issues in our favor. Americans will not re-elect the crook, traitor and sexual predator.
TFG is having a lot of trouble with Independents and NAVs (like me).
Of course he doesn't need to win the popular vote as we now know.
One thing the founding fathers didn't count on was that so many people wouldn't hesitant to donthe work of this country's enemies.
Why do we allow foreigners to own media conglomerates?
Breaking democracy is not good for business. If it was Russia would have a strong economy.
A major party has taken over due to greed. It's not surprising to me.
I was wondering where the two most important women in the former Occupant's life have been and what they have been up to lately, so I went to their Facebook pages to find out. The princess daughter (his favorite child) has 7 million followers and the third wife has 2.5 million.
For the most part, the former Occupant is not shown or mentioned. The princess's page is basically lifestyles of the rich and famous. It is rather sickening. The 3rd wife's page focuses on holidays and other special events.
I will be watching to see how involved these women will be in their highly toxic father's and husband's re-election campaign.
Mosses and MLK Jr give me hope. I may see weakness in Joe Biden but I also see the promised land, the fulfillment of the Founders dreams. As a pluralistic society we must avoid the tribal instincts and gather together for our common good. Trump asks us to worship him as the golden calf and forget our teachings and promise. The selfishness and craven nature of the Orange One knows no bounds. Here, within the Republican presidential frontrunner is the undoing of our republic. Biden’s presidency and reelection appears to be a continued progress towards the fulfillment of the promises to form a more perfect union.
It's my understanding that Ivanka and Jared, who made literally Hundreds if Millions of dollars during their tenure as " Advisers" to her father during his tenure are actively avoiding being associated with him as they try to regain entrance into Palm Beach and Manhattan "Society", a long term unrealized goal of her father.
The evil of two lessers. Who will the voters dislike more? Does No Labels have a chance?
I would vote for Biden if I were in a swing state. But here in blue Oregon, I’m free to follow my whim… 😱😈🤷♂️😀
Moses gives you hope? Are you expecting a parting of the sea of Red voters?
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