Why do Democrats Continue to Play With Fire?
By: Lauren Elizabeth
Tags: Democrats, Election 2020, Trump, Politics, Government

Why do Democrats Continue to Play With Fire?

There is a sizable risk that the democratic party will lose the 2020 election, and they are doing next to nothing to prevent it.

Associated Press

Much like the rest of the year, the 2020 election has been nothing short of a whirlwind. There’s no denying that Joe Biden is far from my preferred candidate to see at the top of the ticket in November. Aside from the fact that he is almost identical to the Republicans of the eighties, and that I vehemently disagree with him on the policy issues that matter the most to me, I’ve had my concerns about sending a candidate who’s campaign was all but dead in the water with next to no enthusiasm behind him in to a general election against an opponent who has riled up and enthused his right wing base unlike any Republican candidate in modern history. Objectively, one would think that the democratic party would do their absolute best to ensure that their candidate chosen would be able to match that kind of energy, considering how important it is in translating to voter turnout in the election. Instead, of course, the democratic party predictably continues to play with fire.

My issue is not entirely with the idea that Joe Biden was not the candidate with the most enthusiasm behind him. Rather, the problem lies with the fact that he has done next to nothing to change that.

As I have said before, as much as the corporate wing of the democratic party and even their liberal supporters would like to believe it, the left are not “purists”. If we’re being honest with ourselves, is it really too much to ask that during an election taking place at a time when the entire country has spiraled out of control in a matter of months, the candidate we’re expected to vote for should offer the people something that would actually better their circumstances? For me personally, not only would I vote for Joe Biden and all his flaws if he promised to fight for the implementation of even just Medicare for All, I would do so enthusiastically and take the time to encourage as many people as possible to do so as well.

That being said, for arguments sake perhaps we should forget the “left” for a moment, and focus on a different demographic that democrats rely on.

Even with apolitical independent voters with no real political ideology who are often the deciding factor of an election, can democrats really not see the problem with having nothing more than being an “ally of the light” to offer at a time when Donald Trump is using the full extent of his executive authority to make sure people are not evicted if they can’t pay their rent in the middle of a pandemic? At a time when tens of millions of people and their families have lost health insurance after becoming unemployed due to no fault of their own, can the democratic party really not see the value in advocating passionately for Medicare for All? When countless young people who have just lost their jobs and their insurance and have no idea how they’re going to pay off their student debt on top of it, can democrats really not see the value of advocating for the cancellation of student loan debt, both in terms attracting voters and the economic stimulation that would come along with that relief of such a burden?

This has absolutely nothing to do with Joe Biden as a person, or my disagreements with him politically. This has to do with a political party that would willingly risk losing an election to perhaps one of the greatest existential threats the country has ever faced, rather than actually make a concrete promise to do something for the American people who they have been elected to serve. This has to do with the fact that as we come face to face with the full threat of fascism and becoming a failed state, democrats are objectively still running their campaigns as though we’re in the eighties or nineties.

Unfortunately, as many of us have seen the once wide lead Joe Biden held over Donald Trump is already beginning to shrink, and even worse it looks as though the gap has narrowed the most in the key battleground states. If we’re being honest with ourselves, it should serve as a damning indictment of the democratic party and their “politics as usual” that after nearly 190,000 people have died and tens of millions of jobs have been lost as a direct result of the Presidents inaction that they aren’t 20 points ahead. From now until the election, we owe it to the future of this country to demand better from the people who have been entrusted with what many consider to be the most important election of our lifetimes.

We have been told that this election comes down to who we would rather fight. Fair enough. We have continuously been reminded of the importance of voting, and to do our part in ensuring the defeat of Donald Trump, and I do not dispute the threat that he poses. But if that’s the case then frankly, isn’t it long past time for the democratic party to do their part as well?