Action hero
Democrats need an executive, not a legislator.
"To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them. . ."
Hamlet, indecisive, in Act Three, almost midway through a long play, speaking to himself.
This blog is not fixated on Trump. I am fixated on the dynamo creating action and reaction in the American political world for the past decade.
That happens to be Trump.
Trump is the swashbuckling devil-may-care action hero/anti-hero of American politics. He is interesting because he is so willful. So selfish. So desperate to be the center of attention. So willing to fill the void of a weak Congress and a Supreme Court captured by sycophants. He is smashing the status quo.
Trump is selling an idea of the fearless man of action:
Democrats need an action hero of their own. A leader. An executive. A person willing to change the Democratic brand from ineffective to bold. This isn't dumbing down America. Americans want a can-do president. This isn't wrong of them. FDR took action.
During the four years of the Biden administration Democrats needed a counter to Trump. Instead, we got an alternative to Trump, a Silent Cal, working largely offscreen. Biden had the heart of a get-along legislator, one capable of pulling together a governing coalition by campaigning as a moderate but governing as an Elizabeth Warren-style liberal. Biden could not sell anything, and his staff kept him out of sight. America needed a Democratic narrator. Trump filled the void, saying what Biden was doing was bad for the economy, bad foreign policy, bad trade policy, bad for working people, and bad for normal, White Christian Americans.
Democrats need a point man. A politician on point is admired, scorned, followed, disagreed-with, laughed at, and shot at. He is in the news and social media. We become familiar with him. We hear his narration of events. We form opinions.
Democrats do not have a huge bench. It only looks huge. Most Democrats eliminated themselves by their inactions over the past five years. Democratic senators have a branding problem. They stayed silent and loyal to a Democratic Party that allowed Joe Biden to rig the Democratic primary so that he and only he would be nominated. Democratic senators did not step up to fill the void of narrator for Democratic policies. They were waiting like good little schoolchildren, asking permission to lead.
Former cabinet officers are also disqualified. Pete Buttigieg is an extraordinary talent, but he played the role of teammate and enabler, not point-man leader filling the void. The time for him to have made a bold move, separating himself from the Hamlets of the Democratic establishment was two years ago. He did not establish his brand as a can-do executive. He did not go to East Palestine, Ohio when the train derailed. Trump -- out of office --went there.
Trump has shown us what bold leadership looks like. In Trump's case, it is dangerously out of control, cruel, hyperpartisan, and destructive of America's role in the world. But there is a get-stuff-done quality to it. Congress is ineffective and weak, proven by its consent to being steamrolled by Trump. That proves Trump's point. If Congress won't solve America's problems, the executive must step up, notwithstanding the Constitution. Trump is all too eager to do it.
I see movement starting to create a new Democratic brand. California Governor Gavin Newsom is acting like a leader in opposition. Newsom has structural defects as a candidate related to having been a California liberal for decades, but he is doing what leaders do, and he is adjusting to a new role as a national leader. He isn't waiting for instruction or permission from the old Democratic party represented by Biden, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and the Democratic National Committee. That party is the Hamlet party.
We are in the midst of discovering the future leadership of the Democratic Party.
Liberal schmiberal! Newsom’s past maters nought. Trump was pro-abortion. Remember? Of course you don’t. Sadly, LBJ is dead. He’d show those Republicans. Newsom is telegenic and is sounding forceful. He speaks reasonable Spanish and if he pulls off a California gerrymander, he should be a Democrat hero. Our facts and their facts don’t matter anymore. Newsom needs to lie, steal, and cheat better than the opposition. He is the leader of the fourth largest economy in the world. Act like it. He should start impeachment proceedings against every Republican in California. Jail Silicon Valley techno-Republicans for fake DUIs. Find a way to withhold taxes from the Federal government. In short, out-Trump Trump. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
I lived in San Francisco when then-Mayor Newsom authorized same sex couples to marry. He did it simply because it was the right thing to do. It was a joyous time in the city as people rushed to City Hall to get married. People in my office did it on their lunch hour. Yes, there was eventually a backlash, but Newsom’s risk taking in that moment was something to behold in a polished politician. I’ve been a fan ever since. He has what it takes to appeal to our better natures and get past this dark period of cultish devotion to a man whose only principle is “I have more cards than you so give me what I want.” Newsom knows how to inspire people. He’s no Obama but as Governor of a large state he would bring the right experience to the presidency. Go Gavin!