Notes from the recent Democratic Debates:
Everyone agrees that the primary mission should be to defeat racist Donald Trump.
Well, no duh.
It should be the primary mission every election for the candidate of one party to defeat the candidate from the other party.
We should keep in mind that the Republican nominees might not be Trump/Pence. I know y'all ill think this is going out on a limb, but I'll bet there is at least a fifty/fifty chance that Nikki Haley will be on the ticket, either as the Presidential candidate or the Veep nominee. That means the first female President or Vice President could easily be a Republican. Another reason that I think the Democrats should nominate a woman, preferably to both offices.
I agree with the surmise that the Democrats wasted too much fire focusing on the wrong target. They're not going to get ahead by poking at the flaws of the Obama administration. Was Obama a perfect President? No. No one has been or could be. But he was by far the best President of my lifetime. The focus on the debate should always be on racist Donald Trump, and what the Republican approach has devolved to be.
That does not mean every Obama policy has to be worshipped and enshrined. But it does not either need to be vilified and condemned.
Politics is not static. Politics evolves. If Obama were allowed to run again (he'd win in a cakewalk), he would adjust his policies and approaches to fit the times.
Speaking of evolution though, not all candidates are on the same wavelength. Some represent the politics of the past more than others. Some represent the politics of today. And some have fast-forwarded to the politics of tomorrow.
The Politics of Yesterday
There is no better representative of this than Joe Biden. Any politician who has an extended record like Biden is going to have baggage that doesn't age well from one era to the next. That's not always a problem, as some politicians evolve with the times, and can nimbly shift positions to fit the times. Biden's record at this is...not so good. He's evolved some, but he also wants to cling to and justify his old positions as well. He also finances his election in an old-fashioned way, a way that is too reliant on large donations from special interests, corporations, and wealthy donors. Some of his positions aren't horrible, but they are quite timid for the modern era. He will not get us to where we need to be on healthcare or climate policy. If he's President, other Democrats and citizen groups will have to push him there.
Other Democratic candidates whose Yesterday elements predominate: Michael Bennet, Steven Bullock, John Hickenlooper, Amy Klobuchar, and Tim Ryan. John Delaney represents an alternate reality Democrat, one in a world where 80s style Republicans have all magically turned into Democrats.
The Politics of Today
Who better to represent the politics of today than Elizabeth Warren? Her policies are fresh and innovative, her rhetoric unapologetic and decisive, her funding methods perfect. Everything about her shows she is geared towards now.
Bernie Sanders, unlike Biden, has had the policies of today for his entire career. The only policy that I know that he has had to evolve on is gun control (representing a rural gun state, Vermont). He hasn't had to change with the times - he now is the time. I still suspect that he is like Moses, someone who has led us to the promised land, but one who won't be the leader when we get there.
Others in this category are more of a mixed bag, but I believe they are more today than yesterday, include Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Beto O'Rouke, Julio Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Jay Inslee.
The Politics of Tomorrow
Edging ever so slightly into the future is Pete Buttigieg. It's not just his age (37), it's his fresh approach to policymaking. He hasn't discussed them too much in the crummy debate format we have, but he has some real forward-thinking ideas, including transformations of the Electoral College and the Supreme Court, that would revolutionize and revitalize democracy. His rhetoric concerning progressive Christians is promising and makes my Christian Progressive heart go pitter-patter. We're not quite to where he's at yet, but we're close. Oh, so close. He should be an increasingly more critically significant voice in the Democratic Party for decades to come.
Marianne Williamson represents some kind of spiritual fluff that I guess is forward-thinking? I'm not really sure. I'm not an abstract thinker, meditation and spirit-speak are over my head. Some things she says I am impressed with. Most of the stuff, I'm honestly not sure what she's talking about.
The real harbinger of tomorrow is Andrew Yang. As Bernie Sanders was far ahead of his time in the 80s and 90s, so is Andrew Yang to our time. I have no doubt that the things he is talking about, like the Universal Basic Income, will come about in future decades. Automation will transform society and will alter what do or do not consider work. But we're not there yet, not with unemployment at only 3.7%.
I'm sorry if I left anybody out. I think I hit all of the prominent players.
Expect the field to shrink in the next three months, maybe cut in half. There should be, however, a representative of each type of politics. I feel like the best of each group will go on: Yesterday - Joe Biden; Today - Elizabeth Warren; Tomorrow - Pete Buttigieg.
Whoever emerges, I hope we remember the following:
Obama was a great President.
All the major Democratic candidates are light years better than any candidate the Republicans would present.
If we're not bold, Nikki Haley will become the first female President or Vice-President.
We need to impeach racist President Trump. We need to defeat racist Donald if he's the 2020 candidate.
If we don't, we can kiss healthcare goodbye. We can kiss the environment goodbye. We can kiss voting rights and civil rights goodbye. We can kiss democracy goodbye.
Vote as if your family's future is at stake.
It is.
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