Adaptation works best when change is incremental and occurs at a slow to moderate pace. Alternatively, change can overwhelm and frighten. And when we are frightened about our jobs or inflation or our social values we are not at our best.
Fright and maybe panic can take us where on reflection we wish we had not gone. Drug abuse, for example, has always been around but now predators can prey on our fright, our destabilization. A staggering number of people looking for escape find it in opioids and too many, terminally, in fentanyl.
So let me move on because citing social pathologies simply eats up words and your time. When it seems like we are in a descending cycle government seems more important, even if we understand a good society results from widespread self-discipline and personal generosity.
Debates come and go, today’s debate about what our government should or shouldn’t do to aid Ukraine is illustrative. The critics will say, “if we spent those dollars at home we would solve, well, whatever. Really? Since when have either of our political parties worried about borrowing more money to do, whatever? The real message is cynicism.
As we track cynicism look at today’s political polling, it essentially has President Biden and former President Trump in a virtual tie. The tactics of cynical politics are winning. This is especially true when the polls also show over 2/3rds of the electorate do not want a rematch. According to Real Clear Politics average of all polls Biden’s unfavorability rating is 54.9% and Trump’s is 56.9%. Elections of renewal turn on favor, not disfavor.
A long time ago at the insistence of my mother I typed: “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country”. It still nags me. It was originally used to test typewriter performance and capability. So let me comment, as President Biden would say “here is the deal”.
I am not, as readers of my column know, a Donald Trump fan. But let me theorize. The first assault alleging Trump criminality originated in New York by the Manhattan District Attorney forging in Trumps’s unseemly relationship with Stormy Daniels. It would be correct to say that this conduct had been prosecuted in his run for the presidency in 2016.
Additionally, Trump supporters perceive Biden’s hand in the federal indictments while covering for his son. Is it possible that Hunter Biden was skillful and disciplined enough to earn millions without his father’s help?
While dealing with perceptions, I suspect most Trump supporters want a rematch. It brings to mind Muhammad Ali rematches. When Ali was at his best a rematch was warranted and he won. But today? Biden? Trump? And as we face those dramatic societal changes that have turned many worlds upside down do we want octogenarians dealing with the tensions between the common good and the technological good?
On a number of different levels, it is fanciful to regard Biden as a man of the future. Indeed, it seems passing strange to me that his political party’s leaders would think otherwise.
We can all anticipate the campaign ads if a rematch occurs. Trump will double down on MAGA with an insistence that he is a Savior while bleating incendiary captions about Biden and Vice President Harris. The horrific Afghanistan pull-out will be the visuals. On the other side Biden too will double down on MAGA; extreme will be the beginning and end as Trump’s mug shot becomes iconic.
In 1981 Ali was 39 years old when he fought Trevor Berbick. He lost in a unanimous decision. As the much beloved Ali lit the Olympic torch in 1996 Bob Costas from NBC Sports said: “Once the most dynamic figure in sports and now trapped by a mask created by Parkinson syndrome.” What will our collective mask be? How will our foreign friends and enemies view us?
So let me end by turning away from the tactics of cynicism to more hopeful ones. Predictably political professionals have sprayed toxic liquid on an organization called No Labels. As I type, it is taking advantage of political malpractice and preparing for a convention in April, 2024. Its mission is to choose candidates who will appeal to the 70% who don’t want a rematch. If political malpractice ends, No Labels goes away.
Predictably again, the crystal ball gazers say it can’t win. Maybe they are right and maybe it will hurt Biden more than Trump. Yet, overall many Americans want to be hopeful and need someplace to place their hope.
Anne Stalfort says
No Labels enters the race, and Trump wins. No Labels as far as I can tell, is all about egos, Hogan and Manchin are vying for the No Labels nod with no hopes of winning, I am sticking with Biden Harris: strongest economy in the G7
The lowest peacetime unemployment rate since WWII
Lowest poverty/uninsured rates ever
Wage growth strong
US global climate leader again
Manufacturing booming
Will protect reproductive healthcare for women
John Fischer says
“Reproductive healthcare.” Is that what it’s called now?
Eva M. Smorzaniuk MD says
I, too, wish for success for the No Labels party, as I believe that most people want their leaders to be pragmatic and spend time governing rather than bickering. Unfortunately, our election system, a “winner takes all” approach, doesn’t accommodate well to a third party. Without a coalition form of government, there is no incentive for people to compromise, and every incentive to buckle down further on disagreement and grand-standing. Voters have been duped by our toxic political culture to take sides, and each party has been unduly swayed by the extreme wings of their organizations. Tactics of fear have been used to justify maintaining the congressional status quo. If voters were educated to be critical thinkers, they could effect change at the ballot box.
Mickey Terrone says
Hello Al. I certainly agree that you are no supporter of Donald Trump. As a generally conservative Bush Republican, I suppose you are likely to support a reasonable candidate who reflects and supports traditional Republican ideas. Your goal would also very likely include defeating Joe Biden in the 2024 election. IMO, this is why you do not want to see a rematch of Trump vs Biden. When given the choice between the those two candidates, I think you believe Trump will lose by a greater margin than in 2020. I believe that and trust that many Republicans will not abandon our democratic republic to a malignant demagogue. I almost believe you would not vote rather than have to vote for Trump if he was the Republican Party candidate. You know your American history and the value of our constitution and the rule of law.
As a Democrat, the very thought of another Trump presidency is anathema to everything I have valued about this uniqely great country. I believe if the America republic isn’t good enough for Trump and his disciples, that’s too bad for them. If it was good enough for hundreds of thousands of war veterans who gave their lives in the past 200+ years, its good enough for me, so long as continue to work to improve it.
I’d love to see a younger Democrat take over for Biden. I believe there are numerous very capable people waiting in the wings for their time, just as Biden waited for many years. Yet its dumb to think that any alternative Democratic candidate in 2024 won’t have their own weak points or skeletons in their closets or other imperfection(s) that Republicans will seize upon. Certainly no Trump supporter will vote for any Democrat because they are more youthful than Joe Biden. As the old saying goes, the 2nd string QB is often the most popular player on a team is true, that is, until they come in and fail.
Joe Biden has performed very well. His unheralded achievements need to be more heralded by all Democrats and other thoughtful citizens. He takes far better care of Trump’s base, socioeconomically speaking, than Trump ever did. Biden is well enough to run and win unless some major event befalls his health. I believe it is dishonest not to express similar concerns about Trump’s physical, not to mention mental health, given his aberrant comments, the haggard look on his face and his not-very-svelte 215 pounds. Frankly, I would have more grave doubts about Trump than Biden – and so should you.
We agree that “No Labels” is political malpractice at its most dangerous depth of opportunism. I simply believe Joe Manchin has been bought and sold. I believe he would immediately agree to be Trump’s running mate if asked. Hogan would understand the potential damage he could do to our country by running as “No Label”. “No Label” is no label in name only. Clearly, it has a label, and that is, “Republican ruse”, purchased by big, dark, ultraconservative money. Make no mistake about it. No Labels has no way of winning. Period. No Trumpists are going to leave Trump, but some minority of open minded Democrats might just fall for the ruse. I pray not for the survival of our great democratic republic and the quick, irrevocable end of No Labels.
In fact, I’d love to learn your views of Trump and his Republican Party supporters’ vision for his second term: https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/11/politics/trump-wild-rhetoric-2024/index.html. This vision will make it much easier to vote for Joe Biden, no matter how old he may be when his 2nd term expires. Shutting down the FBI, IRS, Social Security, etc., are radicalism at its worst. That so many Republican voters blindly support Trump’s demagoguery is the bigger problem and the most serious roadblock to the entire structure of our democratic republic, I believe. What is your take on this blind loyalty to such a demagogue?