Democrats: No Brains, No Guts
by Jean-Louis Gassée
A long, soothing Thanksgiving vacation looking at the Pacific and, more important, at our grandson, pushed away the enraging noise that envelopes our government. Back in town, the spectacle returns and prompts me to wander from my comfortable tech beat and wonder about the future of our politics: Do the Democrats have the ideas and the courage to actually effect change? Or are we going to be treated to the lame, mediocre incrementalism of their 2016 campaign?
Democrats lost the last presidential election. Barely, some say; unfairly, others contend. We know all we need to know about Donald Trump: He’s a cheat and a liar, a paranoid narcissist, misogynistic sexual predator (by his own words), racist white supremacist, authoritarian plutocrat, he’s a fake populist who abandoned the citizens he pretended to campaign for…and on and on.
It’s been more than a year since Trump was elected and what has the Democrats’ kvetching changed? Nothing. Actually, it has provided Trump’s supporters with additional motivation, a sense of strength and possibilities following a law of psychology known as the Backfire Effect. All of this whining may help Trump attain his sine qua non goal: Re-election (or, for now, not being fired). For him, losing is a psychological impossibility to be avoided at all costs.
What do Democrats have to offer that will prevent the country’s slide into Pluto-populism? Do they have people and ideas?
On ideas, we’re treated to thin gruel. After its July 2017 convention, our country’s Democratic Party revealed its new slogan: A Better Deal. As their chief opponent would say, rightly this time: Sad!
The longer version of this tepid slogan enumerates the specifics: Better Jobs, Better Wages, Better Future. You don’t say! Is this all that the Democrats can come up with to counter the resonant Make America Great Again?
Hillary Clinton’s campaign slogan was no better: Stronger Together. How’s that for inspiration? It might have been a clever — or involuntary — reference to what political scientist Mark Lilla calls the Left’s problem with divisive identity politics. Every cause, every micro-agenda demands attention and a place on the political platform, leading to an unintelligible, unactionable Strategy Of Everything.
Trump appealed to a sense of grandeur, he promised to revive the American Dream, he committed to restoring the opportunities that the corrupt “elites” stole from the American worker, and he vowed to Drain The Swamp…another strong slogan that spoke to the electorate’s frustration.
As for People… I have a vivid recollection of John Kerry being elected to the Democrat ticket at the party’s 2004 convention. No disrespect for Kerry, but his posture — pacing the stage in a blazer and pink Hermès tie (I’m not kidding) — didn’t stand a chance against W’s grabbing the lectern in a work shirt and rolled-up sleeves.
Who gave the Keynote Speech that preceded the (traditionally) unanimous floor vote? A young, rather inexperienced Illinois State Senator named Barack Hussein Obama. I was sitting at home, watching Obama’s rousing speech. (The video is here and a full transcript here). I saw and heard Obama say:
“There is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America.”
And I thought: ‘This is who we need, not John Kerry’. Do we see another Barack Obama working his way into the Democratic party’s hierarchy?
I recall the joke that introduced me to American politics when I landed here in 1985: What’s the difference between Republicans and Democrats? Republicans, true conservatives, are against any change. Democrats welcome progress — just not right now. We’ll tweak legislation here and there, a little bit for each special interest…
It won’t work. Lame incrementalism is why it was relatively easy for Trump to position himself as restoring America to its past grandeur.
To win, Democrats need to actually do better. Better than the lame Better Deal slogan.
Let’s recall another joke: How Democrats voted for the Iraq war, costing lives, treasury ($1T, enough for a Universal Healthcare program), and reputation. Democrats also voted for the financial deregulation that led to the 2007–2008 Recession that, for the first time since the 1929 Depression, attacked people’s homes. ‘They’re all the same, they’re all rotten’, voters conclude.
To overcome voter cynicism, Democrats need the courage to adopt clear, courageous — and initially unpopular — positions. They need the clarity and the guts to play the long game, they need to be willing to lose some battles as their Agitate, Educate, Organize campaigns gain strength.The Strategy Of Everything, the attempt to bring conflicting and conflicted causes and interests into the tent won’t work.
Democrats must run on no more than three clear, ringing goals with memorable slogans. There are many causes to choose from: The environment, healthcare, voting rights, gerrymandering, prison population, drug laws, education, defense spending, term limits, gun laws, infrastructure, energy policy, privacy, amending the Constitution (it’s not untouchable, it’s been amended before), election financing, electoral college… To win, choices must be made, some interest groups must be made unhappy. Priorities must be asserted.
In my opinion, political naïf that I am, a necessary condition is Kicking The Merchants From Democracy’s Temple. We need stronger election financing and lobbying laws. We all know what politicians on both sides of the aisle do as soon as they’re seated in Washington: They plan their reelection. To run their next campaign, they need money, and that money comes from lobbies: Telecom, Pharma, Insurance, Wall Street, Agribusiness, Defense contractors… The lobbyists are the experts who draft the legislation that our solons must endorse, and thus the legal process is captured by special interests.
Entrenched interests and elected representatives in cushy positions will fight against the proposition that this relationship must be severed, and they’ll probably win for a while. But if Democrat voters don’t regain control over the power of the ballot, the country will continue down the road to Pluto-populism.
If Democrats can exhibit the will, politically and financially, to fight against “lobbyism”, maybe they can get us out of the shameful American exceptionalism that is our Healthcare system. Civilized countries in the West and elsewhere have one form or another of universal healthcare coverage.
Last, another American exception: Our prison population. We have the second highest incarceration percentage in the world… right behind the Seychelles.
Will Democrats have the mind and courage to fight for a few issues — take any three — and implement important reforms? Or will they hope Republicans commit some kind of political suicide to return to yesterday’s smelly, mediocre business as usual?
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Next week, I’ll try to redeem myself and return to tech topics such as iPhone X Third Impressions, or Mac Apostasy.
— JLG@mondaynote.com
