Many citizens have expressed the sentiment that Donald Trump is an ignorant, lazy, mean, narcissistic, sexist, racist, sociopath, but they are not sure they can bring themselves to vote for someone as far left as Sanders or Warren. Even if Sanders or Warren were too far left, it is clear to me that the evil of Donald Trump ought to weigh more heavily than the discomfort of voting for a candidate who is perceived to be too far left.
The fears many have of the “left” policies are misplaced because Klobuchar and many others are right: those policies will never get through the Senate even if the Democrats control the Senate and even if the Democrats dispense with the filibuster. Yes, many fine policies will be adopted if a Democrat wins the White House, but there are too many not-very-liberal Democrats, too much lobbying, and too much money in election campaigns to hope or fear that many of the truly progressive policies expressed on the debate stage will be enacted.
At the same time, many citizens believe that the Democrats can only win if their candidate is charismatic enough to inspire voter turnout. This too rests on an unfounded fear. The many elections of 2018 and since show that Donald Trump is the worst thing that has happened to the American government and the best thing that has inspired citizens to turn out to vote for Democrats. There is no reason to believe this will change in 2020.
This is not meant as an endorsement of any candidate. With respect to Sanders and Warren, for example, those who support them will be disappointed by their failure to get many of their policies adopted, but they will be heartened by the presence of a President who tries to push the country in a progressive direction.
If you think the most important thing is to oust Trump, as I do, then the best evidence of that capacity will be the securing of the nomination. We don't know who that will be. We must have patience.
But I have no patience with those Democrats who say that Donald Trump will win. Perhaps he will. But they say this with no credible evidence at this point. Their contention is supported by defeatism, cynicism, perhaps a desire to appear wiser than they are, perhaps a psychological need to be a victim, or perhaps a desire to experience the worst before it happens and whether or not it happens. They, of course, have a right to express their views, but there is nothing constructive about those views.
Finally, I have no patience with those who soft peddle the existence of a madman in the West Wing: a man who cages children, seeks to take health insurance from millions, transfers multi-billions of dollars to the wealthiest individuals and corporations – all the while pretending that he is benefiting the middle class, willfully denies the existence of climate change, and daily reminds us of the many ways corruption can be a guiding light not only in the departments of our government, and in our democratic elections, but also in the poisoning of our public discourse with his constant stream of lies and bullying insults.
He is a man who cannot or will not read reports prepared by the intelligence community; and acts instead in ways that serve the interests of Putin from Europe, to Turkey, to Syria, to the Ukraine. Indeed, he is a man who still refuses to admit that the Russians interfered in the last Presidential election.
This dangerous man is almost uniformly supported by sycophantic Republican politicians. Those Democrats who claim that they will only vote for particular Democrats they now favor in the general election would do well to rethink the rigidity of their position.
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