Biden to be Nominee — Now We Need a Mass Movement for Positive Change
Does he have what it takes to unite a movement to defeat Trump?
Biden Has No Political Platform
His effective slogan, ‘Return America to Normal Again,’ is rhetorically similar to Trump’s, ‘Make America Great Again.’ Biden wants to turn back time to 2008 when an empty promise of Hope and Change was enough. Back to a time of the War on Drugs, mass incarceration, the cruise missile attacks, the droning of innocent civilians, the weekly Tuesday afternoon kill-list meetings, the rule by Executive Order approach to governing, the vast expansion of executive power, the mass deportations, and the massive Wall Street bailout.
Oh — those were good times. If we only went back to ‘normal’ again
Biden — ‘Boring’ is a Campaign Strategy
Joe Biden is boring. He drives the speed limit, never gets a parking ticket, waves at his neighbors as he drives by, goes to church on Sunday, pays his taxes on time, avoids confrontation, always tips 20%, and never challenges the status quo.
Politically, Biden is not radical, or bold, or Progressive, Left, or even interesting. He is politically Center with frequent Center-Right tendencies.
His lifetime in politics does make him experienced in the art of wrapping a shit sandwich in progressive sounding language and selling it to a hungry crowd of political consumers.
Biden is a Flawed Candidate
This post is not long enough to list all of Biden’s liabilities, but here’s a few:
- Supported cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
- Supported the disastrous Iraq war
- Supported lousy trade agreements like NAFTA and the TPP
- Supported the War on Drugs
- Supported mass incarceration
- Supports military interventions and economic warfare (sanctions)
- Takes corporate and Wall Street PAC money
- Opposed busing to achieve racial integration in schools
- Opposes Medicare For All — even amid a pandemic.
- Takes money from big pharmaceutical companies
- Opposed postponement of state elections during social distancing
- Opposes student loan debt forgiveness
- Opposes the Green New Deal and takes money from fossil fuel companies
- Known to get ‘handsy’ with young women frequently
- Accused of rape by Tara Reade
- Diminished mental and cognitive capabilities
I could go on, but you get the idea.
Trump Will Be Hard to Beat
Trump is the bad guy people love to hate. He is the stereotypical bad-guy wrestler character people pay money to scream insults at and boo his every move. Online, the memes are like modern-day hieroglyphics, showing the lowest common denominator political attacks using pictures, videos, and hashtags assaulting Trumps every statement and even his hair, color (orange), weight and limited intellectual capacity.
Meanwhile — Trump laughs all the way to the bank. Many people reducing Trump to a caricature, did that in 2016, which resulted in a devastating loss and causing pain and suffering for millions of Americans and death and destruction to communities worldwide.
CNN, PBS, MSNBC have all learned that going all Trump, all the time, leads to significantly higher ratings. Websites know pro-Trump, or anti-Trump stories lead to more clicks (click-bait) and more advertising dollars. Newspapers and magazines understand this also. Trump is good for profits.
Trump uses populist language, and he pretends to care for the ‘Deplorables.’ He creates fear and uses scapegoating; he pretends to want peace and jobs and to fight against ‘Fake Media,’ the elites, the ‘Deep State.’ In his Nuremberg inspired rallies, he uses rhetorical manipulation, comic relief, dis-information, racism, and crass cynicism as tools in his bag of tricks.
His showmanship keeps people in the seats like any good entertainer knows to do. Trump effectively uses Twitter, FOX, and an entire media network of Fascist, neo-Nazi, and alt-right hate groups to create an echo chamber to sow confusion, create chaos, deny facts, divide people, and drive a daily narrative to support his extremist agenda of hate, fear and maximum profits for the 1%.
In practice, however, he governs like an authoritarian figure, his businesses profit from his position, he represents ruling elites and makes them all a lot of money. That segment of the ruling class would much prefer the crass Trump over the Democratic Socialist Sanders.
Trump calls himself a Nationalist; he uses the term America First that was commonly used by American Fascist Charles Limburg. After Charlottesville, he referred to Neo-Nazis as “good people,” his overt racist language on immigrants won him fans among the most Fascist and neo-Nazi groups and their spokespeople, such as Q-anon, 4-Chan, Alex Jones and White Supremacists like Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingram, and many others.
We should all be deeply concerned with Trump’s constant attacks on our democratic institutions and government civil-servants. He has systematically been dismantling the administrative state while vastly expanding executive power.
Trump is a clear and present danger to American democracy.
Conclusion
This Election is about changing the balance of forces in a more positive direction, so future struggles have more room to operate and a better chance of success.
Biden’s instincts will be to lead from the center or center-right and to be just a good manager of the status quo. Only mass pressure can move him to Center-Left or Left positions on the critical issues facing America. But — a bold, progressive program can still be won if we successfully organize mass actions around specific issues to force Biden to respond to the demands of millions.
Who he chooses to surround himself matters. His VP choice, his AG matters, his proposed Cabinet, and who he turns to for support and guidance matters.
Between Biden and Trump, Biden will be more likely to respond to mass pressure for more pro-people policies than would Trump.
Supporting Biden for President will not be easy. There are too many red flags in his VP and legislative record, questions about his ability to carry out the responsibilities of the Office, and concerns about his ability to stand up to and defeat Trump. There are also serious accusations of his inappropriate behavior made by a number of women that are disturbing and potentially disqualifying. These all need to be addressed forthrightly and immediately.
The best way forward for the American people is to stay focused on issues. We should organize and unite around a people’s agenda and offer a strong defense of our democratic institutions and practices. The Republican and Democratic Party’s are both bourgeois political parties. They will only offer meaningful reforms when pressured to do so by the people.
Biden must take significant steps to reach out to the broad Left with new ideas, better proposals, and strong commitments on a whole host of critical issues. Defeating Trump, returning to ‘normal,’ or being a good manager of the status quo is not enough.
Mike Gold is a political analyst, political commentator, writer, and photographer. Mike is a peace and social justice activist & supports putting people before profits.
