President
Donald Trump’s refusal at the first presidential debate to condemn
white supremacists for inciting violence and his statement that the
violent hate group, Proud Boys, should “stand back and stand by” rather
than “stand down” at demonstrations across the country was shocking but
did not surprise me.
Unfortunately, the President’s views are those of far too many of his supporters.
The
problem with many Trump voters are their stubborn refusal to accept or
even fully acknowledge that the country continues to be haunted by the
consequences of its original sin, the acceptance of chattel slavery by
the nation’s Founding Fathers, and the refusal by many white Americans
to accept the presence and humanity of black people.
Using
a cultural motif known as a “pact with the devil,” during that usually
hot summer in Philadelphia in 1787, the Framers offered the soul of the
nation to Satan in exchange for a national unity constructed around a
white Christian identity.
The
economic foundation of this country was built on the forced labor of
black women, men and children and the nation’s political institutions
and most dysfunctional processes like the Electoral College were
designed to accommodate the 25 slaveholders that summer in Philadelphia.
The
country’s entire history and many of its greatest achievements can be
credited to the Founder’s pact with devil. Yet, 160 years after nation
fought a bloody civil war to deal with its original sin and try to
outwit the devil, we remain echoing the words of Abraham Lincoln, “a
house divided.”
The
racial divisions that haunt this nation have widened under Trump.
America’s best hope for healing depends on white Americans no longer
continuing to operate as if the world they have inherited and continue
to sustain is somehow uninformed or shaped by the legacy of slavery and
years of de facto segregation.
I hope young people are paying close attention to the Democratic Party presidential nomination race. The Party does not have their interest or needs in mind. It is time for them to fight for their future.
In the beginning, I must admit, I was really excited by the field of candidates seeking the Democratic Party nomination for President. Donald Trump is one of the most unapologetic racist, xenophobic, and sexist individuals ever elected to be President of the United States.
When the race started, it was the most diverse group of candidates in the history of the Democratic Party presidential nomination process. With roughly 8 months to go, two white men in their late 70s with sharp ideological and policy differences are the leading candidates fighting for the nomination. Although it is not a surprise, this is not what I had hoped for at the beginning of this process.
On one side is Joe Biden, 77-year old former U.S. Senator and Barack Obama’s vice-president and pal who has sought the presidency on 2 other occasions. He is a moderate who believes in bipartisanship and incremental change.
On the other side is Bernie Sanders, a 78-year old Senator from Vermont who is self-identified Democratic Socialist who has for decades advocated aggressively for fundamental change to our social and economic systems.
The Democratic Party establishment is uniting around Biden for what I describe as ‘Operation WIMP’ (Win Independent Moderate People). The goal is to beat back the under 40 years-old supporters of Sanders and his brand of socialism they admire, take the black vote for granted (where else do we have to go), and win back Trump supporters like the mythical Joe the Plumber and Becky the Soccer, Lacrosse, Crew, Basketball, Baseball, I Packed Your Lunch And Here Is Your Homework, Do All The Cooking and Cleaning Suburban Mom.
The stakes are quite obvious.
To the establishment, if Biden wins the nomination, there will be no more talk about ‘free’ or ‘universal’ stuff, just ONLY the stuff we can afford? What this means then is that a Biden presidency puts back on the table such status quo proposals (and perhaps some bipartisanship support) for things like entitlement reform, the closing of some loopholes in the tax code, limiting pollution through Cap and Trade, and lowering interest rates on student loans.
Off the table, of course will be the kind of fundamental change that progressives and young people want, the kind of change that has attracted them to the Sanders campaign and may give them a reason to not support the Democratic Party in the future if Biden loses the contest in November.
I did a presentation the other day for a group of mostly students of color coming from working- and middle-class families as part of Hillyer College Admissions Day, a group of young people who would benefit from the elimination of student loan debt and universal healthcare.
Unfortunately for them, the Democratic Party establishment thinks helping them will cost the nation too much.
I talked with these students about the importance of citizen engagement and why it is imperative for them to not be spectators, but actors, to create the kind of world they want to live in.
We talked about the expectations of democratic citizenship (things like to be interested in politics, be knowledgeable, and do more than just vote). I asked them about whether they planned to vote in November if they’re eligible and they raised their hands - some of them are registered to vote already (one mentioned going back to MA to vote today).
I reminded them that voting is only a first step and emphasized the importance of linking the things they care about like college affordability and saving the environment with political activism.
I hope I got through to them because the current group of political leaders in both the Democratic and Republican Party are not prioritizing their interest and needs. If they want fundamental change, they will have to work to bring it about.
In Georgia, officials are purging 100,000 voters from the voter rolls. In Florida, the modern equivalent of a poll tax is being thrust upon formerly incarcerated residents. And in Texas, in a willful policy effort to drive down Election Day turnout, 750 polling places have been shuttered since 2012.
Across the nation, voting rights are indeed under attack. But here at home, this legislative session, Connecticut has the opportunity to send a message to America by expanding participation in democracy - and for those who need it most.
We can do it by passing automatic voter registration - known as AVR. It's a critical reform as the 2020 election approaches, and it needs to be one of the first issues the Legislature takes up this session. Here's why.
Last year on the final day of legislative business, just as the Senate was set to join the House in passing AVR, political maneuvering hampered common-sense policymaking.
Even though AVR has passed with bipartisan support in 19 different states (including Massachusetts and New Jersey), the bill was ultimately shelved.
But now that we're in 2020, the stakes have never been higher and the urgency to pass AVR couldn't be more real.
First, it’s critical because AVR helps simplify and streamline our
elections. Elections in the past have been plagued by long lines. In
2018, for instance, residents waited up to seven hours to vote in some
cases. This year, with President Trump on the ballot, we could see
record turnout — and exceptionally long lines as result.
But AVR represents a common-sense solution, because
rather than registering eligible residents through an inefficient and
costly paper-based system, AVR registers voters automatically when they
interact with state agencies, like the DMV.
In cases where they’re already providing data about
themselves that demonstrates their eligibility to vote — name, address,
citizenship status and more — residents can accomplish their business
with that agency as well as register to vote. It’s a step towards
government efficiency.
That also means more people will be registered in advance
of Election Day, with fewer using paper methods to register same day at
polling sites. Staff is able to focus more on running elections
smoothly—and less on cumbersome paperwork.
All of it culminates in shorter lines at the polls, which could be critical, particularly in 2020.
Equally important, at a time when foreign powers are
actively seeking to meddle in campaigns, election integrity has never
been more critical. Since AVR captures voters’ most updated information,
that means voter data is updated nearly in real time, minimizing human
error, eliminating outdated information or duplicative registrations,
and ensuring that the rolls are reliable and accurate.
If we’re going to fight back against election meddling,
that has to start with ensuring that our voters rolls are clean and up
to date. AVR delivers just that.
What’s more, AVR saves taxpayer dollars in the process.
One study showed that moving from a paper to electronic system has saved
cities and states across the country over $3.50 per registration
in labor costs. By eliminating costly paper-based methods and moving
towards a modern, electronic system, AVR can deliver meaningful costs
savings that can be put towards our schools, our roads and more.
But perhaps most importantly, it expands democratic
rights, registering voters from communities of color, younger residents
and countless others who would otherwise be less likely to register to
vote. One study by the Center for American Progress showed that AVR
would register hundreds of thousands of new voters in Connecticut in the first year alone.
Policymakers and agency staff will need time to implement
AVR in advance of November. Consequently, the Legislature must make it
one of the first priorities the legislature passes this session. The
clock is indeed ticking to make these benefits come to fruition by
November.
As other states attempt to undercut voting rights, it’s
not just the efficiency of our elections or our government that are at
stake. So too are our values as a state.
And as voting rights continue to be rolled back
nationwide, we need to pass AVR now to send a message loud and clear —
Connecticut stands up for democratic rights.
Cheri Quickmire is executive director of Common Cause in Connecticut and Bilal Dabir Sekou an associate professor of political science at the University of Hartford and member of Common Cause.
During a recent campaign rally in Colorado Springs, President Donald Trump expressed his distaste for the Academy Award winning South Korean film, ‘Parasite,’ and his love for ‘Gone With The Wind,’ the film adopted from the 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell. Like its record-breaking predecessor, ‘Birth of Nation,’ the1939 box-office hit is a white supremacist fantasy film that perpetuates Civil War and Lost Cause myths.
Until he said to loud applause, “Can we get ‘Gone With the Wind’ back, please?,” the President had not blown a racial dog whistle that loud since he came down the escalator in Trump Tower announcing his bid for the presidency and proclaiming that most undocumented Mexican immigrants bring drugs and crime, and are rapists.
Under Trump, the national Republican Party has become the party of white identity politics, resentment, grievances, and anger with a long list of scores to settle with their enemies, real and imagined – elites, the media, third-world immigrants, people of color, multi-culturalists, globalists, the LGBTQ community, feminists, pro-choice advocates, bureaucrats in Washington, faithless secularists, liberal academics, duplicitous politicians, progressives, and the unpatriotic.
Trump is their weapon to exact revenge on them all. When he intentionally violates basic social norms and political rules, the base responds with approval. They also show a disregard for the feelings of those on the receiving end of his frequent public attacks.
For students of American politics, Trump’s rise to power does not come as a surprise. He is a consequence of decisions made by leaders of the GOP going back to the late 1960s to tap into some of the worst fears and impulses in America society, especially racism, to win and hold onto political power. Given this strategy, it should come as no surprise that most self-identified Republicans are white.
As far back as Nixon’s ‘Southern Strategy’ to win over disaffected white Southern Democrats angry about the achievements of the black civil rights movement through Ronald Reagan’s demonization of so-called welfare queens to claims made by members of the Tea Party that Barack Obama was a Muslim and was not born in America, the national Republican Party has strategically used white’s fear of cultural displacement, sense of victimhood, and racial anxieties and resentments, to achieve a desired political end.
More than 90 percent of Republicans support the President. According to a November 2019 Economist/YouGov weekly tracking poll, fifty-three percent of Republicans said Trump is a better leader than former President Abraham Lincoln. The GOP is the Party of Trump.
If members of the establishment are really repulsed by their party’s leader and want to save the Republican Party, acknowledging and denouncing the role racism, xenophobia and other wedge issues have played in modern Republican national politics is a necessary step forward to rebuild a party that once stood for the political and social equality of formally enslaved people, the Party of Lincoln.
