From The Rear View Mirror: Presidential Primaries
Thank God That’s Over — If Only
We have our candidates: at last. Both candidates were tested by establishment revolt. One because she was anointed, the other because he wasn’t. One because she was vetted by the primary process, the other because he shunned the entire vetting process.
Looking into the rear view mirror — there was more to it than candidacies. A primary of insurgent issues took center stage as much as intra-party revolt. What primary in recent memory do you recall socio-economic arguing trumping ideological pageantry, so fiercely? Predictable platitudes peddled by messianic charisma fell flat, and by the end, ran off all but three candidates. The establishment and corporate media were put on notice as much as the candidates. Partisan pundit memes — worn out talking points on the successes or failures of government —also lost their grip. We actually started arguing over fair trade, wealth and income inequality, racial justice, gender equality, LGBT rights, universal health and education — and voted accordingly — across all socio-economic backgrounds. (With one nagging caveat…more later…)
From a certain standpoint:
Socialism is no longer a dirty word. Bernie stood fast when the ‘Fidel Castro loving communist’ label surfaced, and thanks to millennials that dog wouldn’t hunt. Thomas Frank came to the forefront after taking on both right and left establishment/professional classes — recently in Listen Liberal and earlier with Pity the Billionaire; further adding to the much needed vetting of detached professional ‘money grubbing’ on the left and right for decades.
The grass roots Black Lives Matter movement successfully fended off offensive insensitive co-opting of black America’s fight for racial justice and equality. It’s official: super predator is an offensive shameful label none of us recall, none of us will utter. Millions are outraged over institutional brutality and systemic racism we saw firsthand: Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Walter Scott, Sandra Bland, Joyce Curnell, Ferguson, Flint — ad infinitum…
The Fight for $15 movement solidified with legislative successes (even if we have to wait years for it to kick in) after they took the national dialogue to the streets. Economists and sociologists — Picketty, Krugman and Stiglitz —raised the ante on inequality, focusing consternation on the top 10%, not just the 1%. We’re now collectively aware it’s not just the super affluent and robber baron descendants sucking up income and wealth.
Even on the ‘hysterical’ GOP side, #FantaHairWeave stood up for the working class, the poor and uneducated, attacked unfair trade deals, called the Iraq war a horrible mistake, mocked Sheldon Adelson and Koch Industries hand picked lackeys, etc… (though amidst race baiting and social dementia, it’s hard to know what was reality TV or not). Still, thanks to this corporate welfare queen— the left and right took crap for abandoning the working class across all of America.
It’s official: these are no longer movements — they are social expectations, social demands. The efficacy of populism is measured by turning ideology into movements into change and so establishment politics was put on notice. But so were insurgent candidates. Socialism is no more an election year fad than trade deals are. Nationally, the status quo — lip service — is no longer acceptable. Besides, social media won’t stand for it.
Predictably, most mainstream pundits fixated on the horse race: who’s voting for whom, who has the chance to win the nomination, who’s likely to win in the November, who’s outside the ‘mainstream’. That earned the mainstream media — both left and right — consternation, and with campaign reform growing ever more vocal the public became suspect of all corporate media.
The grass roots challenge, on both left and right, now poses a question usually lost in choosing, or betting, on your favorite horse. Which ideas and solutions have staying power? Will citizens take action by pulling the lever in 2016?
Here’s the aforementioned nagging caveat behind this years presidential primaries:
More than 57.6 million people, or 28.5% of estimated eligible voters, voted in the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries that all but wrapped up Tuesday — close to but not quite at the record participation level set in 2008.
(FYI — these numbers exclude caucuses and Puerto Rico.)Pew Research
Telling numbers, but a bit suspect when generalizing about voter turnout (exactly what I’m doing). According to Pew, they are based on calculating ‘turnout by dividing the number of votes reported cast in the party primaries by the estimated number of voting-age citizens. That doesn’t take into account millions that couldn’t vote because of party affiliation (closed primaries), how many first time voters failed to register in time or didn’t change party affiliation in time, or stayed home because the horse race called it early on the GOP side, or whether their distaste from politics keeps them at home.
Regardless, 29% is abysmal. When less than a third of eligible voters pull the lever — you don’t have a ‘We The People’ democracy.
Interestingly, Harry Enten of fivethirtyeight.com — back in March, at the height of voter turnout mania — reminded policy and journalism wonks:
‘History suggests there is no relationship between primary turnout and the general election outcome.’
Blue State New York — Blue City NYC
Turning locally, to New York, turnout was even worse.
The state has a history of low-turnout primary elections. In 2008, New York had the second lowest turnout rate of any primary state, trailing only Louisiana; this year, it occupies the same inglorious position. Overall turnout improved slightly from 2008, but the gains were all on the Republican side: in relative and absolute terms, the Democratic vote shrank.
Jacobin
But this doesn’t just apply to presidential primaries:
New York State:
Only 19.7 percent of eligible New Yorkers cast a ballot, the second-lowest voter turnout among primary states after Louisiana, according to elections expert Michael McDonald.
The Nation
New York City:
Citywide, only 30.1 percent of registered Democrats cast a ballot in the primary, a ratio that will shrink further if and when Kings County restores the 125,000 Democrats it mysteriously purged from the rolls over the winter.
Jacobin
In other words, one of the bluest of bluest states had turnout worse than the national average. This is why it’s not about one woman, one man, one orangutan — it’s about one vote. This kind of voter turnout is unacceptable. Civic engagement isn’t working in New York — and America.
Let’s focus on the road ahead.
Sociology? The study of social life. Politics? A collective agency for affecting social life. Journalism? A daily (now hourly) influx of information and context to stay on top of the course of societal events, issues, and advocacy.
It’s likely abysmal turnout has to do with putting the cart before the horse. Politics is how we affect change, but information and study is how we build a more informed engaged citizenry — to affect change. In our age of professionalism and pundit opinion, many spend more time listening to talking heads and horse race minutia, than kicking around — testing- ideas based on sound information and reflection. Maybe the culprit is capitalism: always thinking about winning nationally and globally — never locally.
Speaking locally, by the way?
Did I mention New York City passed the 2017 $82 billion dollar city budget this past week? Did I mention New York Governor Mario Cuomo signed an unconstitutional censorial executive order this past week? Did I mention our transit system is collapsing every week?
Most New Yorkers missed that entirely — due to Bernie or Bust, racial litmus tests for judges, and the NBA finals.
“All politics is local”
To be continued…
