This page contains links to recent blogs by Lincoln Mitchell
Tagged with: elections 2020
The fact that a sitting president, with no evidence to support his claims, screamed election fraud and was supported by close to a third of the country and, initially, almost all the leadership of his own party, cannot be erased simply because Trump was too lazy, too stupid or lost by too big of a margin to succeed in this endeavor.
By spreading doubt and trafficking in deliberate lies about the election, Trump and his Vichy Republican enablers are continuing to undermine America’s faith in its democracy. Trump’s universe, where elections either end in victory or fraud, is the product of his narcissistic and authoritarian mind, but when that view becomes widespread it threatens the basic processes and functioning of democracy.
Trump’s foreign policy was clumsy, poorly coordinated, and too frequently guided by Trump’s ignorance, sense of personal grievance and avarice. However, some of the guiding principles of Trump’s foreign policy, notably the notion that the US should be less engaged with the rest of the world, resonated with large proportions of the American people and, if articulated by a less toxic politician, can do so across party lines.
We are stuck with the unalterable reality that almost 70 million Americans, representing more than 45% of those who voted, looked around at the racism, democratic rollback, ties to the Kremlin and 230,000 deaths from Covid-19 and decided it was a good idea to give Donald Trump four more years in office.
The problem with this symmetry framework is not only that it does not hold up under real scrutiny, but that it overlooks the most important development in American politics over the course of the last few years, and in some respects much of this century-not the rise of polarization, but the descent of the Republican Party into a far right, white supremacist, conspiracy mongering, anti-science collection of cult-like followers of Donald Trump who now happily overlook, and at times celebrate, the criminality, cruelty, bigotry and avarice of his failed administration.
On Tuesday November 3rd voting will conclude in one of the most unusual and fiercely contested elections in American history. It is not possible to predict what will happen on November 3rd, but below are some things to look for that evening and the following days.
Trump failed utterly to craft and implement a strategy for addressing the biggest crisis the US has faced in many years. Instead, he lied, distracted, undermined the scientists and doctors, embraced quackery, set Americans against each other and stood by as more than 200,000 Americans succumbed to the pandemic.
While nothing would please me more than to see Donald Trump and his Republican enablers drubbed at the polls in the coming weeks, there are several reasons why this should not be at the center of the post-election strategy. First, the likelihood of a landslide happening is extremely small. Moreover, while a landslide victory for Biden is a good, if ambitious, goal, making that the lynchpin for ensuring Trump leaves office sets the bar way too high. Lastly, this approach is disempowering because it implies that absent a landslide defeat, Trump will be able to remain in office.
As the US careens towards an election that is already ripe with confusion, misinformation, voter suppression and lack of confidence-a situation that is likely to get much worse in the coming weeks-it is increasingly apparent that America’s electoral structures and rules are not working. The undemocratic nature of the electoral college and the US Senate have been well documented, but on a more granular level, American elections are inconsistently, and frequently, poorly, administered. This is in significant part due to efforts by those in power to limit access to the franchise, but it is also frequently the product of incompetence and antiquated rules and structures.
impossible without rule of law, slavery, apartheid in the post-reconstruction south and even voter suppression today have all been legal in a technical sense. Unfortunately, while the law has helped strengthen democracy in the US, it has also been a handmaiden of efforts to limit democracy throughout American history. That is very possibly where we will again find ourselves in the days after the polls close in November when the future of American democracy could be determined in the courts, the legislatures, but also in the streets.
The 2020 presidential election is, on the one hand, unlike any other in American history. No presidential election has ever been held in the midst of a pandemic that creates significant problems for voting because many people are reluctant to leave their homes or come in close contact with anybody else. The economic downturn, demonstrations associated with the reinvigorated Black Lives Matter movement and increased political violence, while not quite as unprecedented, have never all occurred at the same time during an election. More significantly, there has never been an election when the incumbent president has made it clear that he might not accept the outcome if he loses. Efforts by the American government to limit reporting about Russian and other foreign intervention also makes this election sui generis in American history.
Harris is an unusual politician in that she has the legal and political skills to humiliate people like Attorney General William Barr during a hearing regarding the Mueller Report, but also has an infectious laugh and upbeat disposition. In this way she is able to use her ample political talent, while also showering herself to be human and likable as well. That skill set will be very valuable both during the campaign and as part of the Biden administration if the ticket wins.
The Republican Party is faced with a quandary about whether or not to rally around the president and become complicit in his most egregious efforts to undermine democracy. The argument for doing this is that Trump may just succeed and remain in office after January of 2021. If this happens, the Republicans will buy a few more years in power and a few more years of not being held accountable. However, by backing up the president now the Republicans would also put themselves at risk of, politically speaking, jumping on the Titanic just moments before it hits the iceberg.
Widespread demonstrations are occurring in almost all major cities and even in the rural areas. In the biggest cities numerous demonstrations are being held often at the same time and sometimes seem to spontaneously emerge in different neighborhoods. Residents, small businesses and houses of worship offer encouragement and supplies to the demonstrators. Radical reform is already being implemented in some cities. The president has barricaded himself in his official residence and erected fences that have immediately been covered with opposition slogans. The security forces have given very strong indications that loyalty to the law and Constitution will ultimately override the president’s wishes. The economy is in terrible shape with millions out of work or out of school, and for good measure a deadly pandemic is still killing between 500-1200 people a day.
