Feb 25, 2017
The Left is Dead. Long Live The Left.
The left is dead, a self-inflicted demise rendered by infighting and division that predates the 2016 election. Rather than correcting this, they remain seemingly intent on being outplayed by the GOP, even as Trump makes it harder for traditional conservatives to remain on the right.
If the left has any intention of recovering from their losses in 2016, they will need to seize this opportunity, not squander it.
Part 1: Donald is “Trumping” the Right
While they won’t admit it, Trump has thrown the right into turmoil. It’s easy to make the case that America’s right has been transformed into something that’s utterly wrong for many traditional conservatives. Why? Because fundamentally, there isn’t much about Trump’s policies and ideas that is genuinely conservative.
Earlier today, Steve Bannon declared that Trump’s administration is intent on dismantling the People’s government. Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) cheered this revelation, despite its being the exact opposite of conservatism.
For those of traditional conservative bent, this is an escalation of a party steadily abandoning its principles. Shortly after taking power in early January, House Republicans proposed a budget that contained over $9 trillion dollars in unpaid government expenditures. To conservatives that spent nearly a decade lamenting big government, deficits, and the national debt, this is not only hypocrisy, it’s the very antithesis of conservatism.
The administration’s strange affinity for Russia creates even more discomfort among those on the right, many of whom were brought up fearful of communism. (See: Red Scare) To anyone who remembers Ronald Reagan and the Cold War, it is perplexing, off-putting behavior.
That the nation’s top Republican would not say a single thing even remotely critical of Russia, (despite having numerous opportunities to do so) is alarmingly bizarre.
Instead of trying to preserve the best of America, Trump is forcing it into his image, fully intent on stamping out any criticism of his administration. He’s denigrating the free press, insulting and excluding media outlets he doesn’t agree with, and dismissing anyone who protests him or his Republican majority as being “liberal” activists.
This rhetoric plays well with his base (which comprise a scant 10% of the population), but it is straight up insulting to any GOP voter who is voicing concern about the direction their party is taking.
Trump is alienating plenty of folks on the right, and for good reason. He has taken the worst elements of Obama’s so-called abuses of power and magnified them exponentially. Trump is beholden to no one, and believes his power is absolute. He is a caricature of himself. A national embarrassment.
Part II: The (Continued) Demise of the Left
Trump is an objectively bad president. He was an objectively bad candidate, and yet despite the insanely long list of things that made Trump unfit for office before the election, he still won, and so did the GOP. Why? Many reasons, but primary among them is that the left let him win.
To say that the left lost is an understatement. There are dozens of reasons why they lost, and to the right, each of them lend credence to the theory that the left is dead. The right revels in the idea that Democrats will never recover from 2016. Such wishful thinking may be misguided, but so far the left is doing very little to allay their glee. Trump and his troupe of Republican sycophants create a historic opportunity for the left to regain control, an opportunity the left seems intent on squandering at nearly every turn.
The truth is, Trump sucks. Always has. Many on the right know it, even if they won’t admit it. There is no certainty that he’ll last a year in office, let alone sit as President for two full terms. Yet, rather than focusing on the abject awful that is Trump and his Republican enablers, the left seems intent on remaining fractured. Most aren’t dedicated to fully opposing Trump. Beyond a few limited instances, they aren’t even really casting light on Republican efforts to implement an archaic right-wing social agenda. Instead, the left is setting ideological bars and creating arbitrary purity tests as they fight over who is worthy enough to even be among them.
If the left was rendered a political carcass after the 2016 election, then these opposing factions are akin to buzzards picking apart the spoils.
- Some insist that Hillary is the future, driven by a desire to correct what they feel was a grave injustice perpetrated against her.
- Others declare that if Bernie had won the nomination, he’d be President right now.
- Still others consider both of these figures to be irrelevant relics of the recent past.
- Die-hard adherents of the left want to oppose Trump at all costs, because mindless obstruction worked so well for Republicans that opposed Obama. (It did work for the GOP, but it won’t work for Democrats. That’s a topic for another post.)
- A potent minority thinks that the DNC is too corrupt; too beholden to corporate interests, too owned by the 1%.
- Environmentalists want a green party. Moderates want a centrist party. Anarchists want no parties.
- Few actually want to fight for the right to party.
Each of these factions has a valid point in a narrow context, but all of them are ignoring the elephant in the room. It isn’t anyone on the left that’s the problem right now. It’s Donald Trump and his Republican enablers.
The Right Plays Chess. The Left Fumbles with Checkers.
One thing the right has always excelled at is in keeping the big picture in constant view. It’s why they’ve won, and it’s why they’ll continue to win if the left doesn’t adapt.
To the right, no inner debate is more valid than opposing the left. Libertarians hate many GOP policies. They dislike warmongering, drug enforcement, big business favoritism, and government subsidies — but come election day, they still vote for Republicans. Evangelicals don’t like the ‘godless’ antics of many of the right’s candidates, but they consistently vote Republican anyways. The right has countless bitter arguments about how to proceed on any given topic that varies from faction to faction, but at the end of the day, they always come together to oppose the left.
The left has no such fealty to the greater cause of stopping the right. When push comes to shove, many on the left vote third party — if they vote at all. There is no appreciation for the danger a Trump GOP poses to the fabric of progressivism, or the necessity to look beyond minor arguments to protect it. The left fixates on trivialities, vilifying one another to the point of exclusion rather than coalescing to oppose a greater evil. Put simply, too many on the left take their ball and go home, rather than staying with their team to try and win the game.
The Left is Dead, Long Live the Left
The hard truth of the matter is that the left can no longer afford to fight amongst themselves. If progressives are to have any hope of regaining power, they need to adopt the right’s ‘big picture’ thinking. They need to vote blue, and convince as many people as possible to vote blue. They need to realize they aren’t each other’s enemy. The left must coalesce and build coalitions, or they will continue to lose elections.
To succeed, the left will need to increase their numbers. This starts by giving up on purity tests and divisive rhetoric.
Democrats need to understand that Hillary and Bernie are in the past. Each had their moment, but both are polarizing, divisive figures, and relying on either shrinks the tent rather than growing it.
Finally, the left needs to go wide. Adopting centrist perspectives of progressive policies makes it easier for those on the right who loathe Trump to join in, if only temporarily, to oppose him.
None of this involves abandoning the principles that have become hallmarks of the left, it only means broadening their influence. If the platform focuses on big picture issues of equality, economic opportunity, and defining the ways in which a salient government improves people’s lives, then the left becomes a movement with greater appeal.
It should go without saying but growing the tent means respecting the issues that people are passionate about, without belittling or berating opposing points of view. Above all else, it means convincing those who are not involved in politics of the necessity to vote for candidates that support progressive ideals.
Bringing these people in can’t be accomplished by shaming them into submission, bemoaning Trump’s voters, or becoming enraged at those who aren’t “left” enough.
Growing the tent only happens if we have the conversation and work to convince others, like adults.
Too Long, Didn’t Read (TLDR)
The right excels because no matter what, they show up and vote to oppose the left. If the left can do the same in an era of Trump, who is actively alienating traditional conservatives, then the left won’t just win slight majorities. They’ll usher in lasting progressivism. To do this, they need to stop drawing arbitrary lines and excluding others. Instead, they need to create a platform that can garner wide appeal across the political spectrum.
If the left can do that, then perhaps some good can come of the mess that is politics right now. If they can’t, then perhaps they deserve to lose elections until they learn how to become the inclusive side of American politics that they purport to be. ■
