Today the Electoral College elects the next president of the United States. The anachronistic ritual is pro forma. There should be no surprises unless the con man of Mar-a-Lago has managed to bribe a few electors since his snubbing by the Supreme Court on Friday.
It is never a good bet to think Donald J. Trump won’t stoop that low or lower. But the question Democrats have to answer now both for others and for themselves is what they will do to defeat the New Confederacy that announced itself last week.
Democrats’ first instinct will be to put the Recent Unpleasantness behind them, to pretend it never happened, and to move on to delivering improved lives for the American people. Improving people’s lives is laudable, and it will be Joe Biden’s instinct even in the face of implacable opposition by Republicans in the House, in the Senate, and by his foes in right-wing media. Given the events of this weekend in the streets of Washington, D.C., Democrats may face fists and arms there too.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi assured voters ahead of the impeachment of Donald J. Trump that Democrats’ efforts on Americans’ behalf would not stop just because of impeachment proceedings. “@realDonaldTrump and Republicans in Washington want you to think Democrats can’t walk and chew gum at the same time,” Pelosi tweeted. Now Democrats get to prove them wrong again.
Under a Biden administration, will Democrats hold Republicans officials accountable for criminal misconduct in office? For betraying their oaths of office? Have they the temperament for it, a friend wondered Sunday. Because if miscreants walk again, as they have in the past because Democrats were too squeamish about engaging that political fight, we will see worse in a few, short years. And not in the average 15-year interval since Watergate, either. Bet money on it.
Our Sunday conversation recalled a post I wrote here nearly four years ago:
The Ring has to go to Mordor
by Tom Sullivan
The biggest challenge Democrats face is not Donald Trump, but constitution. Not the one in the National Archives, but their inner constitution.
The Democratic Party as an “establishment” organization is conservative by disposition. When shaken or defeated, or when facing the unknown, like now, such organizations by reflex seek safety in the comfortable and familiar. They shy from risk. Democrats fret about what Republicans might say about them at election time. Inner circles across the country worry about fundraising: regular donors might not support untested, young leaders. Democrats fret about how a new direction might induce “division in the party.” (Translation: chieftains might have less influence going forward). That is,
… they like to be the deciders of whose turn it is. There is a tendency to hang onto power and not to cultivate new leadership possessing skills they don’t understand. Old boys would rather turn over the reins to old chums — regardless of their skills — when they can’t chew the leather anymore.
Institutional reserve leaves Democrats as a party in a perpetual, defensive crouch, looking for all the world more like abused spouses than bold leaders. All defense, as if in the age of Trump they have something left to lose.
It seems we have a republic to lose. If Democrats will not hold the New Confederacy to account, it will grow stronger and the republic weaker. Americans will not trust the kids who let bullies take their lunch money to lead them. They will not support a party that will not defend itself or the country they cherish. Sad to say, many would prefer an autocrat. They’ve set that precedent.
The post above came after a conversation with a friend:
So this week I saw Rogue One — Jyn Erso: will she fight? — just before having a beer with a local elected official. After confiding my concerns about Democrats playing it safe in the age of Trump, my friend summed up the situation in a single, powerful metaphor: “The Ring has to go to Mordor. It won’t help to carry it back to The Shire.”
I’ve noted before: How many Rocky movies did Stallone make? And they’re all the same movie. So why do people keep going? Because so many Americans themselves feel like underdogs. We want to root for the little guy with heart. Facing insurmountable odds. Risking it all. We want to feel the thrill up our spines and in the tops of our heads when Bill Conti’s trumpet fanfare introduces the training sequence. We want to hear that. Wait for it. Cheer for it. Pay for it. Over and over and over.
Democrats think politics is about good policy and good governance. It is. But only if you win the power to make it happen. Elections are not about good policy. If Trumpism has not disabused Democrats of that fantasy, there’s no hope for them. Voters want leaders — even phony ones — willing to fight for them and to risk themselves in the effort. Wimps need not apply. Stern words to not count.