There Are No Republican Moderates Which Amount To Anything Re: 2024 Get. Real!
There Are No Republican Moderates Which Amount To Anything Re: 2024
Get. Real!
Heather Digby Parton asks a totally relevant question in today's "Salon" article, which is "why are these GOP presidential candidates other than Trump even bothering to run when they have zero chance at winning, and if if one did, Trump would claim they stole the nomination and the GOP voting majority is so brainwashed with the "Big Lie" that they would believe him"? A very pointed question indeed, which she herself answers.
After a fairly concise treatment of all of the political angles of the thing, she concludes in her final paragraph with this, a view with which I mostly concur.
["I think the thing is that they all just want to be in a position in case he moves beyond the Big Lie and takes the Big Sleep. For all the yammering about Biden's age, after all, Trump's not a young man either. This primary is basically a kind of death watch, hoping that if it should happen, one of them will be the next in line and he or she will have preserved themselves as MAGA's heir apparent by never being disrespectful to the late leader."]
Bluntly, with the exception of Chris Christie, who really does want to use his campaign only to damage Trump, and with his being unelectable has no real presidential standing, they are running with the hope that Trump dies. However, as "Digby" correctly points out, people like Trump tend to live long lives, so don't get your hopes up for that solution.
But this article and her real world assessment tells us a great deal in itself what the actual danger is. It is not simply Trump, but the degeneration of his party into a fascist cult, a fact which by implication unmasks the bizarro fantasy world in which centrist and independent pundits, candidates and voters dwell.
To be clear, in the view of this writer, any independent candidate who runs, whether it's Joe Manchin on behalf of "No Labels," or Marianne Willamson, or any Green or Libertarian candidate, is working to reinstall Trump to the presidency and take down the Biden administration, whether they are consciously doing that, or are just ignorant. And no one running has the excuse or the right to be ignorant.. That also goes for Democratic challengers who are explicitly opposed to Biden's re-election. They are at best egomaniacs, and at worst Trump moles. The regular voting citizens who are otherwise seduced by "independent or centrist messaging" into supporting a candidate other than Biden are for the moment dupes, or are blinded by some other factor. (Generational hatred, ideological stupidity from the left or right, populist anti-establishmentariasm, some variety of religious or spiritual ideology, obsession with a single-issue, or simply plain old rage and victimization)
Unity in the Democratic Party is now, under the circumstances where 2024 might be the very last free election in US history, the most important thing. Pluralism needs to take a back seat right now to the overriding strategic goal of re-electing Joe Biden by a landslide, health permitting. Any other perspective I will denounce as counterproductive and on a par with MAGA as the most singular threat to democracy. It is one thing to have a robust debate on issues and ideas, which is more needed than ever. Separation from or precipitous attacks on the Biden Presidency and campaign itself makes one a MAGA/Trump asset.
Digby's article is of great interest for the reason that she obliterates Democratic "gamemasters" stupid strategy of "triangulation" with the GOP in order to win the vote of so-called "moderates." She proves conclusively that no such entity exists which is remotely relevant to the outcome of 2024. The Democratic centrists are in my view, pushing a masturbation fantasy. On this I'll give no ground.
Some will react to my take on this with anger and see it as a personal attack. It is not meant personally, but if it feels offensive, then that can be a good thing. Having our beliefs challenged should cause an emotional upheaval, the kind which I've gone through myself on multiple occasions when having my own belief system exploded, and realized how I had fallen for deception and lies. I've been there, and so has my wife Martha. It is no easy thing. But it is a walk which many people need to take, while having that conversation. Having the humility to accept the fact of being duped, and reaching out to a trusted friend for guidance as to how that happened, and what are the actual solutions to the crisis at hand, is the first step toward a political revolution for the good. And that is where we can win, not only elections but a future.
