Portland gives Democrats a priceless opportunity.
Use it, please.
First, let's acknowledge the status quo.
-- 1. American voters don't trust Democrats to bring law and order. For all the roughness and cruelty of Trump's language and policy, they think he is bringing order and Democrats are not. Reuters asked Americans who they trusted to deal with the problems facing America:
--2. Democrats blew something important: civil unrest. Five years ago Democratic cities, Portland most visibly among them, failed to stop hooliganism secreted within Black Lives Matter protests. The local district attorney wouldn't prosecute and the police wouldn't make arrests. It went on for months, providing video that locked in a brand identity.
--3. Democrats blew something else important: unchecked mass immigration. The Biden years had a giant increase in border crossings. Americans were uncomfortable.
These extra people were needy, complicated houseguests, here under irregular circumstances, changing the status quo. Of course it was a problem, and Democrats didn't do anything about it. So Democrats lost the brand identity of the can-do party that could use government power to solve problems.
--4. That brand endures because Democratic politicians and influencers focus on what Trump is doing wrong: masked ICE people in unmarked vehicles, unnecessary roughness, mistaken identity, and targeting workplaces. Democrats are naysayers. Monday-morning quarterbacks. Democrats do not dare say anything good about ICE enforcing immigration law. Their messaging is all anti-ICE, favoring instead immigrants being able to avoid capture and deportation.
--5. Democrats are forgetting something: Americans want something done about immigration and crime. Trump is credited for sending military to Democratic-run cities because the public thinks that Democrats aren't doing a good job of keeping order and enforcing immigration laws because their heart isn't in it.
That Democratic brand is catastrophic for winning elections. It elects whoever the alternative is, even a corrupt and deeply flawed Trump.
A Democrat needs to say what American voters think, even though it means that some Democrats will complain bitterly. (Those complaints are essential and good. The public will see that it marks a change.) Portland lets Democrats address both issues. Don't let protesters block traffic. Arrest people who overstep boundaries. Don't apologize. Do it proudly. The public wants to see that Democrats can be firm. So be firm. Actions, not words, prove that federalized troops aren't necessary.
Democrats also need to say aloud the uncomfortable fact that ICE is doing a job Americans want done, and that local law enforcement has an obligation to give them a safe space to do their job. That is the Sistah Souljah moment. Criticize brutality, but not the ICE job itself. Americans wanted deportations of people here illegally and when ICE is operating correctly it is following the law. Eventually Americans will realize they don't like Trump's policy and that will be on Trump. Give Trump rope. Trump did win the election.
Face reality: Democrats lost the power to say we don't need or want ICE when Biden let some 13 million people enter the USA by gaming the immigration system. ICE deporting people is the inevitable consequence of that failure in a democracy. We are in repair mode, undoing some of the immigration of the first three and a half years of Biden's presidency.
A courageous Democrat would announce an immigration policy proposal, perhaps an amnesty plan, perhaps a guest worker plan. Some deportations. Some system for keeping some immigrants here under legal cover. Start selling the plan. Stand up for it. Currently the only policy on the table is Trump's: crude mass deportation. In a choice between something and nothing, Americans will choose the something. Of course, that courageous Democratic plan will be a target from both right and left. What will hurt is criticism from fellow Democrats. That is why the real and enduring message of one or more courageous Democrats is the all-important one, that they have the courage to offend the sacred cows of their own team. They have the power to lead.
Americans don't want a Monday-morning-quarterback naysayer. That leaves Trump as the only one willing to lead. Americans want a quarterback who will stand up and risk being sacked for saying what he, and the public, believe to be true.
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8 comments:
Republicans ginned up a phony "immigration problem" and a lot of otherwise intelligent people fell for it, especially racists. Then they cynically suckered Democrats into a border bill they never had any intention of passing, so it's not fair to say Biden did nothing. NOW THEY OPENLY PERSECUTE MINORITIES AND PROTECT SEX TRAFFICKERS, INCLUDING SHUTTING DOWN THE GOVERNMENT, WHICH THEY COMPLETELY CONTROL, AND THEN BLAME DEMOCRATS? HOW DUMB CAN YOU BE?
Fun Fact: Yesterday's meeting with the generals, which could have been a text, cost taxpayers around $7 million. Where's DOGE...Elon?...Elon?
It should be obvious by now that what Trump wants is absolute power. Sending troops into Democratic cities is part of the process of seeing what he can get away with. As evidence, the excuses he uses are his usual pack of lies. In addition, a recent NPR-Ipsos poll shows there is no broad support for Trump sending in the troops in Democratic cities. As with his other inappropriate actions, it’s split down party lines.
Violence and destructiveness was not "secreted within" the Black Lives Matter protests, any more than it was within the Occupy or WTO protests. That's a bit of a dodge. It was--and remains--an open, concerted component of certain left-wing protests, with shared anti-authoritarian or, for some, anti-authority messages and aims, but willing to employ more direct, radical means. The "Burn it down!" outcries in Ferguson and Minneapolis were a feature, not a bug. Perhaps the looting was opportunistic, co-opting the protests, but even looting dovetails with and is often rationalized by reference to prevalent anti-corporation, anti-capitalist social "justice" themes.
Otherwise, the assessment in this post and the accompanying advice is very sound. Grown-up, if you will. Hopefully it will prevail against the reckless, adolescent mindsets on both sides of the aisle. "Abolish ICE" (like "Defund the Police") in my opinion is the other side of the same coin from the National Guard as a matter of course patrolling supposedly "war-torn" city streets. Yet many engaged, mainstream types have approved precisely these messages and methods. How all this folds in with Trump, Vance, Newsom, AOC et al going forward remains to be seen. The need for a new generation of leadership is often cited. Be careful what you ask for?
Note the high level of border crossings in 1986. That is the year Congress passed President Reagan's amnesty for illegal aliens who entered the United States before, if memory serves as to the year, 1982. Amnesty brought a lot of people from Mexico and points south to our little valley in the latter part of the '80s; even though they didn't qualify for amnesty, they had high hopes. One important reason for the spike in crossings during the post-COVID Biden years must be demand for labor in this country; COVID reduced the work force. Immigrant labor--illegal and legal alike--contributes a lot to our economy. Politicians who say we should curtail employment of foreigners by removing or excluding them from this country are playing with fire as far as the economy is concerned. This isn't like Sista Soulja, who was basically just a stunt and who is now a footnote in history. Grappling with immigration in a way that serves America's best interests calls for serious thought and discussion, because bad policy decisions about immigration will cause real and long lasting harm to our economy. President Biden's neglect of immigration is one of his shortcomings. President Trump's approach to immigration is bizarre. But what ever became of Sista Soulja, by the way? I could Google it, I guess.
Democrats have to move to the center if they are going to have any hope of winning elections again. This is going to require jettisoning their far left-wing so that they can attract more centrist voters. But the far left will fight this tooth and nail, and it is typically the far left that turns out in Democratic primaries.
We can see this clearly in how far left socialist Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for New York City mayor. This is going to be an enormous liability for the Democrats, because this socialist is on track to become a significant part of the image of the Democratic Party. Just what they need, socialism.
I don’t know how the Democrats can fix this problem, but smart Democrats had better figure this out quickly if they want to do something other than continue their losing streak.
Yes, immigration is a significant issue. But sending out masked, unidentified goon squads to round up immigrants, detain them under inhumane conditions and deport them without due process is not how civilized societies handle it. If Democrats were to aid and abet Trump’s barbarity in the hope of garnering a few more votes, then it really wouldn’t make much difference which party is in power. Resist!
Do you think anyone could rise up from within the GOP who could embrace those two values but not the other distasteful and foolish policies, and toxic behaviors of Trump? Or will the hard Right ensure that all future prospects are groomed to carry these on?
Is the Democratic Party really our only “Hope” for a fair and just society?
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