The Shadow Candidacy

Part III of III

Standing in contrast to the more collected, evasive, Democratic nominee, mercurial, uncouth, blustering, Donald Trump may be the most imperfect President the US has ever had, but he offers enormous access, answers questions and presents himself a leader willing to stand up to the most progressive calls for ‘transformative change’ to a country many still love. Voters know where he stands on the fundamental issues.

Who, then, are his supporters? For all the emotional decrees that Trump is a threat to democracy, it is the establishment, the elites, that is united in its struggle against a candidate embraced by the common man, citizens that gather in masses as their standard bearer travels across the country, reaching them personally.

Will rational, considerate, deliberating Americans support an alliance of the left and elites against that common man? These establishmentarians include people who have voiced opposition to American freedom and independence, sometimes barely hiding it anymore, consistently calling for foreign entanglements while insulting its citizens and assaulting the ultimate law on liberty, the Constitution and its Bill of Rights,[1] as impediments to progress. While the committed are eager to cast their ballots, and have already begun doing so, the undecided voters that will determine the election are giving careful consideration before casting theirs. This measured decision-making process is why they remain undecided. And they will be considering that there is little evidence the powers in play will stop at anything to regain their influence and govern from above, and afar.

Indeed, there is evidence to the contrary. If the left wins and gets its way, if it proceeds with its pack[2] and stack[3] proposals by installing several progressive Justices in effort to turn the Supreme Court into little more than a rubber stamp for its legislative agenda, and altering the Senate with the elimination of the consensus-building filibuster[4] while ensuring a Democratic majority through the addition of new, solidly liberal, states, there may be no more barriers to prevent the politics of control from reaching home. It will have no reason to regard the plight of the common man. It can finally dismiss Middle America, entirely.

…which means this may be the last time their vote matters. History will remember what was done, what was undone, and who supported what.

But we remain in the present, and voters know what they are about to do. When one votes for a candidate, one votes for the shadows that candidate casts, what lie behind him/her. One become responsible for the outcome. There are those who would tell you not to believe your lying eyes, but the evidence is in plain sight. We have moved beyond the traditional arguments. The 2016 election saw a political realignment across the board. For America, the contest is no longer simply about Democrats vs. Republicans, liberals vs. conservatives. And for many, it has become a question of who among society should be enabled to make the decisions, not just for themselves, but for the rest of us too.

Who, then, supports who? What do the curious and impartial voters see?

On law and order? Biden has retired attorneys general and sheriffs[5] while Trump has the police unions.[6]^,[7] The military? Biden has fired, retired military generals while Trump has active soldiers and veterans.[8]^,[9],[10] Donor classes? Biden has the billionaires of Wall Street while Trump has the small-dollar donations.[11] Businesses? Biden has Big Tech[12]^,[13],[14] while Trump has farmers.[15] Moral compass? Biden has Hollywood[16] while Trump has churches.[17] Education? Biden has the universities[18] while Trump has local charter schools.[19] Cheerleaders? Biden has the media[20] while Trump has the rallies.[21] In each, Biden has the elites while Trump has little more than ordinary citizens.

Beyond the classic divides in politics, to plenty of Americans, this has become a matter of the white collar technocratic elite vs. the blue collar common man, and unaligned voters with little allegiance to political parties will be self-reflecting, forced to be honest with themselves, facing a different type of question.

Am I an elitist, or am I common? Am I California on the west coast and New York on the east coast or am I anywhere in between?

As with 2016, these are the voters that will determine the outcome of the 2020 election and the future of the republic.

Americans are free, independent and proud people. For four centuries they have rejected authoritarian rule when presented with an option of greater liberty. They do not want to be lectured to, told they and their country are wrong, racist, that they should do as they are told. They want to be left to live their lives, undisturbed, in peace. They rejected the ivory tower approach in 2016. Have they changed their minds in the face of previously unthinkable restrictions on their liberties under coronavirus, violence on the streets permitted by complacent progressive authorities and the Democrats’ open threats to the very structure of the federal government? Are they looking to the urban centers and coastal elites to make decisions for them? Have they finally been beaten into submission?

We would all do well to try to see things from their perspective. In the distant, detached power center that is Washington, as a California Bay Area liberal, Kamala Harris, seconds Biden’s presidential ticket, Congress, like two towers lording over Middle America, consists of San Francisco’s Nancy Pelosi leading the House of Representative with the spirited alarmist from New York City, AOC, at her side while that same New York City’s Chuck Schumer is serving as Minority Leader of the Senate with the words “nothing is off the table,”[22] waiting for the people to empower him to upend the Supreme Court [23] – upon whose steps he has already stood and threatened its venerable members were they to decide against his preferred judicial outcome[24] – and secure long-term Democratic control of the Senate so he can disregard the will of any who disagree with the progressive urban agenda. Given the opportunity, these actions may make the single-party passing of the Affordable Care Act[25] and its historically divisive consequences look like a primer for a single-party state and the end of civility.

One way or the other, there is reckoning on its way.

We are staring down what could prove to be the greatest transfer of political power in the history of the country. How much power are a free people willing to hand over when polices reflect that the elites have had their own interests in mind, when they speak down to their opposition as little more than ‘clingers’ and ‘deplorables,’ when history shows that power begets power?

The future of the county may very well lay in the hands of a few million stubborn supporters of free will.

In 2016, despite the unknowns, Trump’s chaotic nature and the unfiltered criticism from the anti-politician, voters reflected on the Barrack Obama years and rejected the establishment candidate, Hillary Clinton. In 2020, despite the knowns, calculated nature and filtered messaging of the establishment’s latest candidate from the Obama administration, will these same voters decide they were wrong about their last president and accept the establishment’s candidate? Four years ago, they held their nose and voted for Trump. Will they hold their breath and vote for Biden?

Meanwhile, in hiding, in wait, pliable, controlled by handlers and the political pressures of a party whose last presidential nominee indicated he should not concede “under any circumstances,”[26] unchallenged by those who would prefer to see him vanquish their enemy and slide into the presidency, the 77-year old 42-year Washington insider is clearly but a shadow of his former self.

Today, for an establishment desperate to restore its power and ensure it can never be stripped away again, that makes Joe Biden the perfect pick…

…the shadow candidate.

[1] Marc A. Thiessen, Trump isn’t the biggest threat to the Constitution. Democrats are. (Chicago Tribune, 2019)

[2] Elaine Godfrey, The Democrats’ Supreme Court Hail Mary, (The Atlantic, 2020)

[3] Jacob Pramuk, House passes bill to make Washington DC the 51^st state, (CNBC, 2020)

[4] Molly E. Reynolds, What is the Senate filibuster, and what would it take to eliminate it? (Brookings, 2020)

[5] Ursula Perano, Over 190 law enforcement officials endorse Biden, (Axios, 2020)

[6] Jack Rodgers, Police Union Backs Trump for Re-Election in 2020, (Courthouse News, 2019)

[7] Isabella Jibilian, The biggest police union in the US just endorsed Trump for president, (Business Insider, 2020)

[8] Alison Durkee, Military Households Still Back Trump Over Biden, Despite Bombshell Atlantic Report: Poll, (Forbes, 2020)

[9] Ronn Blitzer, 2365 former military leaders support Trump, warn ‘our historic way of life is at stake,’ (Fox News, 2020)

[10] Ruth Igielnik, Kim Parker and Anthony Cilluffo, Trump Draws Stronger Support From Veterans Than From the Public on Leadership of U.S. Military, (Pew Research Center, 2019)