(See Part I: Beware the Narrative, Nixon Was Reelected)
Part II:
Building this scale of support in 2020 is likely to require Democrats to address matters in terms that escape partisan rhetoric. To convince moderates, parties would do well to refrain from speaking down to them or rely on regurgitating the moral platitudes that are so easily accepted by one’s base. Thus, just as it is misguided for Republicans to dismiss any critique of the president as Trump Derangement Syndrome,[1] Democrats cannot merely dismiss unfavorable questions as cynical conservative talking points.[2],[3]
Not everybody is eager to simply come into the fold. Democrats need to find a way to engage moderates on their own terms, understanding people are commonly reluctant to change and that conservatives are not the only ones who question motives and seek rational justifications. To build a consensus for change that can survive challenges by future administrations, Democrats should first seek to enlist trust.
They might begin to do so by defusing the more skeptical by convincingly responding to questions that address fairness with practical considerations, questions such as:
- Why shy from discussing the history of socialism in other countries while advocating socialism for our country, and why should we expect it to play out differently here?
- Why did you promote the claim that an American president colluded with Russia to ‘steal’ an election when there was no evidence, as determined in the $12M Mueller investigation?
- Why is it acceptable for the party in charge of federal law enforcement to surveil the opposition party’s presidential campaign with secret warrants?
- Why was it permissible to investigate the Trump campaign using opposition research and foreign disinformation, but it is impeachable for Trump to ask a foreign nation about a prospective opponent?
- Why did you dismiss the early COVID-19 data that reflected little danger to the majority and embrace systematic one-size-fits-all policies that restricted our freedom, required the quarantining of healthy people and failed to properly protect the elderly?
- Why were elected officials continuing to collect publicly-funded paychecks while telling the public they could no longer collect a paycheck?
- Why do you support paying people more to live off the government than they would be earning by living off their own hard work?
- Why does social distancing prevent people from going to church to worship but it does not prevent them from standing shoulder-to-shoulder blocking streets to protest?
- Why are “social justice” policies the solution for the country when the cities already governed by your “social justice” advocates are the same cities enduring protests and riots?
- Why is Joe Biden the candidate of racial equality when he helped write the 1994 Crime Bill that disproportionately imprisoned minorities?
- Why is Trump the racist when he signed the 2018 First Step Act that disproportionately benefits minorities and presided over record employment for minorities?
- Why did you continue to deny the crisis at the southern border when we could see it with our own eyes?
- Why should unemployed and law-abiding taxpaying citizens be paying for the health care of immigrants who do not behave as if it necessary to come to (or remain in) our country lawfully?
- Why do you “believe all women” unless they accuse your candidate of wrongdoing?
- Why are you defending China as it engages in unfair trade practices, builds its military in a show of force and aims its propaganda at our country?
- Why should we trust Joe Biden to manage China if he casually dismisses it as a threat and his son made millions from China after landing there with him on a taxpayer-funded flight?
- Why do you support a judge’s refusal to accept the Justice Department’s finding of prosecutorial wrongdoing and the request to dismiss charges against Gen. Michael Flynn (ret.)?
- Why is gender a matter of how one feels but race is not?
- Why is it racist to support Confederate flags on state buildings but fighting racism consists of boldly painting the streets of the nation’s capital with the name and slogan of an organization that defines itself as “part of the global Black family”?
- Why would you want to fundamentally transform something you love? I thought that was the opposite of love.
Sarcastic as these questions may sound to the initiated, they are concerns in the public discourse. Again, Democrats do not need to provide legitimate explanations to garner the support of their base. Resistance is simply that – resistance. “You support Trump? I resist (whatever else you support).” But the base alone cannot win elections and elections, including the manner and extent to which they have been won, have consequences.
Beyond the nation’s typical moderates, the independents, there are still moderates and social conservatives in the Democratic party,[4] Democrats that love their country as well as their traditions and have carried their membership despite privately expressing concern about the evolution of their party. These voters may be misrepresented in polls, perhaps manifesting in the ‘hidden Trump vote,’ wherein conservative voters are quiet about their support for an alternative.[5] (This phenomenon has been proposed before as the ‘Bradley Effect’ or ‘hidden Tory’ vote, the latter which may have concurrently assisted with the passage of the UK’s 2016 populist-driven Brexit referendum.)
Can Democrats afford to ignore these concerns, again? Can their candidates win over a sufficient quantity of independents and/or peel away enough Republicans when they cannot even address the concerns of their traditional blue-collar party members? Failure to do so in 2016 clearly helped fuel losses in the Rust Belt.[6] Doubling down on their most liberal positions, particularly if left unexplained and unjustified to so many, is dangerous political ground to tread.
The Fractured Political Psyche
In its simplest, political parties are but a collection of individuals with a shared set of values or ideologies, individuals who may agree in principles, on policies. As entities, parties embody those values and ideologies, constantly struggling within, making determinations on priorities and approach. As a body, how might we describe the current psychological state of the Democratic Party?
For many Democrats, the 2016 election was a visibly traumatic defeat of the would-be first-ever woman president, eliciting feelings akin to death. (Perhaps these feelings were not so unlike those resulting from the 1968 assassination of a candidate, Robert Kennedy, in whom so many hopes had rested.) To some, it was as if we were witnessing the onset of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).[7] They reacted with accusations of unfair play citing Russia’s involvement[8] and the October surprise of the FBI’s review of Clinton’s emails,[9] as if to say the election was stolen from the rightful winner. Eventually, they began to shift their agenda further to the left. Was this healthy and productive? Is it sustainable?
Consider Sigmund Freud’s famous theory of psychoanalysis. Freud structured the human psyche into three components – the id (instincts), ego (reality) and super-ego (morality). The id is more infantile, having no patience for time, no care for reality. It merely wants what it wants and it wants it now. The ego is considerate of others and the consequences of its actions. The superego can be compared to the conscience, the moral caregiver restraining our impulses. Were a psychoanalytic analysis applied to the nation at large, the body politic, the id might be represented in the Democratic Party, the ego with its independents, and the super-ego in the Republican Party. Where one of these parties is in power, for example, the nation’s id or super-ego might exhibit more control. Nonetheless, they remain functioning components of a single collective, the nation.
But what if we are witnessing this psychological struggle at the party level?
One could argue the Democratic Party has, since 2016, embraced its chaotic, unreasonable, youthful and impulsive id (progressives), neglecting their rational, balanced ego (moderates) and abandoned the developed, experienced super-ego (conservatives) that drives the self toward productive behavior, losing perspective in the process.
Is it coincidence that the most liberal members of society tend to be the younger generations while the most conservative members tend to be the older generations?[10] What wisdom is there in youth? What energy is there in old age?
If the Democratic Party is the nation’s id and progressives are the party’s id, what happens if Democrats win and the id’s id is empowered? To the id, this prospect is ideal, unchecked passions reign. To the super-ego, this is frightening. And to many today, with images of riots and growing calls to “defund the police,” a symbol of stability and order, fear seems to be the state of the state.
Have we seen anything like this before? Will it happen again?
(See Part III: The Rhythms of History)
Author’s note: In the two weeks after this article was submitted, the following occurred:
- Seattle’s mayor praised[11] anarchists’ creation of the ‘autonomous zone’ in her city;[12]
- Numerous monuments across the country have been defaced and/or unlawfully toppled[13] with little criticism from Democratic leaders;
- Christian monuments to Jesus[14] and the cross[15] have come under attack;
- Armed citizens have taken to the street to ‘protect’ their neighborhoods;[16],[17]
- A Republican senator’s op-ed defending the conditional use of the military to protect the peace resulted in the resignation of a New York Times editor over its newsroom’s outrage;[18]
- Twitter selectively censored the President’s warnings about violence;[19] and,
- Another incumbent New York Democrat has reached the verge of losing a primary to a politically inexperienced progressive candidate who calls for defunding the police.[20]
Footnotes
[1] Conor Friedersdorf, The Implications of Trump Derangement Syndrome, (The Atlantic, 2020) https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/the-implications-of-trump-derangement-syndrome/610705/
[2] Damon Linker, The Republican Gamble on Absolute Cynicism, (The Week, 2019) https://theweek.com/articles/878424/republican-gamble-absolute-cynicism
[3] Paul Krugman, Republican Cynicism May Win Trump Re-election, (The New York Times, 2020) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/24/opinion/trump-2020-debt.html
[4] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/01/17/liberals-make-up-largest-share-of-democratic-voters/
[5] Philip Bump, The ‘Hidden Trump Vote’ May Be About Uncertainty, Not Insecurity, (Washington Post 2016) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/03/the-hidden-trump-vote-may-be-about-uncertainty-not-insecurity/
[6] Ronald Brownstein, How the Rustbelt Paved Trump’s Road to Victory, (The Atlantic, 2016) https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/trumps-road-to-victory/507203/
[7] Erin Durkin, Trump-Clinton Election Battle Left Students with PTSD Symptoms, Study Findshill (The Guardian, 2018) https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/23/trump-clinton-2016-election-ptsd-students-stressful-experience-
[8] Jeremy Diamond, Russian Hacking and the 2016 Election: What You Need to Know (CNN, 2016) https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/12/politics/russian-hack-donald-trump-2016-election/index.html
[9] Sean McElwee, Matt McDermott and Will Jordan, 4 Pieces of Evidence Showing FBI Director James Comey Cost Clinton the Election, (Vox, 2017) https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/1/11/14215930/comey-email-election-clinton-campaign
[10] Shiva Maniam and Samantha, A Wider Partisan and Ideological Gap Between Younger, Older Generations, (Pew Research Center, 2017) https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/03/20/a-wider-partisan-and-ideological-gap-between-younger-older-generations/
[11] Ian Schwartz, Seattle Mayor Durkan: CHAZ Has a “Block Party Atmosphere,” Could Turn into “Summer of Love,” (Real Clear Politics, 2020), https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/06/12/seattle_mayor_durkan_chaz_has_a_block_party_atmosphere_could_turn_into_summer_of_love.html
[12] Evan Bush, Welcome to the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, where Seattle protesters gather without police, Evan Bush, (Seattle Times, 2020), https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/welcome-to-the-capitol-hill-autonomous-zone-where-seattle-protesters-gather-without-police/
[13] Rachel Scully and James Bikales, A List of the Statues Across the US Toppled, Vandalized or Officially Removed Amid Protests, (The Hill, 2020) https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/502492-list-statues-toppled-vandalized-removed-protests
[14] Aila Slisco, White Jesus Statues Should Be Torn Down, Activist Shaun King Says, (Newsweek, 2020), https://www.newsweek.com/white-jesus-statues-should-torn-down-black-lives-matters-leader-says-1512674
[15] Richard White, This Monument to White Supremacy Hides in Plain Sight, (New York Times, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/opinion/drakes-cross-white-supremacy.html
[16] Jason Wilson, Rightwing Vigilantes on Armed Patrol After Fake Rumours of Antifa Threat, (The Guardian, 2020), https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/06/rightwing-vigilante-armed-antifa-protests
[17] Leah Simpson and Karen Ruiz, Armed Protesters ‘Take Over’ the Streets Near the Wendy’s Parking Lot Where Rayshard Brooks Was Killed and Use Crude Roadblocks to Prevent People from Getting to Their Hoes on the Day of His Funeral, (Daily Mail, 2020), https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8453575/Armed-protesters-Wendys-parking-lot-Rayshard-Brooks-killed-day-funeral.html
[18] Rishika Dugyala, NYT Opinion Editor Resigns After Outrage Over Tom Cotton Op-ed, (Politico, 2020), https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/07/nyt-opinion-bennet-resigns-cotton-op-ed-306317
[19] Rachel Lerman, Twitter Slaps Another Warning Label on Trump Tweet About Force, (Washington Post, 2020), https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/06/23/twitter-slaps-another-warning-label-trump-tweet-about-force/
[20] Jacob Pramuk, Two Powerful House Democrats from New York are in Danger of Losing Their Primaries, (CNBC, 2020), https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/24/new-york-primary-results-eliot-engel-carolyn-maloney-in-danger.html
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