This will be fast.
I am sorry, but this won't be easy.
Nothing I write generates more hostile comments than my telling Democrats that they have a problem.
Readers will be waking up this morning to news about the New York Times' poll that says that Biden is losing in five of the six battleground states.
Click here: New York Times
Biden is behind because a huge realignment is taking place in the political parties. Realignments have happened six or eight times before in American history. Realignments are when the platforms and constituencies of political parties switch sides and new coalitions are formed. The most recent, and the one experienced in real time by most of my readers, is the realignment of the American South from Democratic to Republican when Democrat Lyndon Johnson pushed forward on Black civil rights and Republican Barry Goldwater opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act on libertarian grounds. Richard Nixon's 1968 and 1972 "Southern Strategy" accelerated the re-alignment. Pious, born-again Christian, Georgian Jimmy Carter slowed the realignment in 1976, but Ronald Reagan completed it in his 1980 campaign, which he kicked of in, of all places, Philadelphia, Mississippi, in a speech about "states' rights." The town was notorious as the place where local law enforcement covered up the murder of three civil rights workers in 1964. White southerners became the foundation block of the GOP coalition.
These changes happen in slow motion. As I wrote yesterday, Black and Hispanic voters are switching allegiance toward the GOP, led by males. They are voting their social class, not their race and ethnicity. I am guessing men are less offended by Trump's macho swagger and misogamy than are women. The NY Times poll documents this switch.
Democrats need huge margins out of Black, Hispanic, and young voters to win elections in battleground states. Young people don't find Biden appealing. Democrats my age can defend Biden's wisdom and experience -- I do. Biden defenders complain about "agist" prejudice and they scold people who note Biden's age and apparent vitality. But elections hinge on relatability. I remember my own youth. I remember the phrase "Don't trust anyone over 30." I remember thinking the phrase to be cheeky and oversimple, but not entirely wrong. People in their 30s had careers. They were settling into adulthood. Those of us in our 20s were exploring. We liked trying new things, new music, new lifestyles. Why not live in a geodesic dome? Why not live in a rustic backwoods? Why not change majors? We were going to change the world.
I will repeat something which never fails to elicit nasty comments. Joe Biden looks frail.
He can communicate experience. At his best he can communicate wisdom and judgement. He cannot communicate a bold and confident march into a better future. Democrats can deny that reality and shame people for speaking it. But the reality sits there, mute and undeniable to a critical mass of Americans. No amount of door-knocking or money spent on advertising can change what people think they see: A frail old man hanging on too long. Democrats are probably stuck with this. They made their bed. Biden is their guy.
That -- along with the party realignment taking place -- will likely get Trump elected in 2024.
[Note: Don’t be reluctant to subscribe. I am not going to put up a paywall or try to get people to pay me money. I write this blog because I am trying to figure out what the heck is happening to America, and to share what I think I am seeing.]
Peter, I think many Dems have abandoned the desire for a bold leader to march us into the future. Too many have promised and failed. As we look to the future with two wars looming, I’m thankful for a wiser, steadier leader with fewer reasons to prove his manliness.
The Democrats are only better than ReThugs because the latter are essentially crazy. The Dems continue to nominate milquetoast candidates and we vote for them because, well, they aren't trying to undermine the Constitution and give the county to religious whackjobs and the Koch brothers. The entire system is rigged, to prohibit a third way, one that a majority of Americans would probably support huge parts of (like gun control, nationalized health care, a working wage, etc.).
Biden is fine. I'll vote for him if that is the choice, but I'd sure like somebody that doesn't remember WWII. Trump is a con man, a crook, and, shall we say one taco short of a blue plate special. THESE are the best this incredible country can do? I think not.