We need to talk…
6-30-2024
I know that many of you have been doing some serious mulling since the debate on Thursday. I’ve exchanged emails and had conversations with many serious, dedicated people among our own ranks who are taking up different positions. There’s been a massive wave of commentary from people we tend to respect—Frank Bruni, Thomas Friedman, Nicholas Kristof, Ezra Klein and others—to the effect that Biden should step aside. Robert Hubbell, Heather Cox Richardson, and others have circled the wagons around Biden. I certainly won’t try to out-pundit these authorities.
Wherever we come out, two things seem clear. First, it would be wise to avoid hasty overreaction or panic. Freaking out is never a good strategy. A bit of time and steady reflection will lead to better results.
That said, it is absolutely crucial that very candid, very probing discussions take place about which path forward—with Biden leading the charge or with someone else—is most likely to lead to a successful outcome. The answer to that question, soberly and critically assessed, is the only option. There is serious risk with either choice: placing hopes in a good man, now diminished and facing the uncertainties of aging, vs. the turmoil of selecting alternatives. We are fortunate in this respect, at least: it happened before the Democratic National Convention.
Can that discussion happen? On CNN, Paul Begala observed, “The first Democratic politician to call on Biden to step down, it’s going to end their career.” I hope that Begala is wrong about this. If he’s right, then we have arrived at a place that is the mirror image of the Republican Party, where dissent is intolerable: where allegiance and loyalty to one candidate and one orthodoxy displaces all other considerations.
As a general rule, I believe there is such a thing as an external world that exists beyond our interpretations of it, and that we make claims that are either true, less true, or false about that external world: claims about human-caused global warming, for example, which (I believe) are scientifically, verifiably true. Historical claims: yes, the Germans invaded Poland, not the other way around. Or claims about who won the last presidential election. These things are not a matter of interpretation. If party loyalty does not even allow for discussions about what is true or best, then we have sacrificed truth as a standard for our thinking and policy-making. Republicans have done that; Democrats cannot follow that cynical downward path.
We now have a claim to consider: “Is Joe Biden the best chance the Democrats have in November?” This truly momentous discussion simply must happen. I hope it can.
I also think of this from the perspective of our canvassers. When we approach a door, what option gives us the most confidence? Which is mostly likely to appeal to younger voters, to sporadic voters, to people who aren’t already party insiders like most of us?
We can’t help but be concerned and distracted by all this, but remember, even before this high-echelon issue gets settled, we have plenty of great candidates to advocate for right here at home, and no reason to pause for even a moment in continuing to meet together, to reach out to others, and to build our organization.
Speaking of concrete work, I’ll end with a conversation one of our canvassers had this week: “I knocked on the door of a father of several daughters, all now of voting age, from Kosovo. He took the time to have a conversation because he held so sacred his right and the right of his daughters to vote so he said to me, ‘can you help me understand better the list of candidates you’re giving to me, as we could use some help on that.’ He shared with me how coming to the U.S. during the war in Kosovo saved his life and that of his family. His only resources to get acclimated and to find work was by going to the public library and taking courses for free and to work on his English. He said, ‘I went there every day. I finally got a job and now I work for a bank and people now report to me. But I heard so many along the way say to me, “You’re taking our jobs.” He then said, ‘I worked so hard to get me and my family on our feet. I never want others to feel the way I was made to feel as I just tried to survive.'”
I’m encouraged by this, and I hope you are too. These are the folks we can reach; let’s concentrate on them.
Have a marvelous week,
Greg