I am offering a Democratic strategy designed to take back the initiative from Trump supporters and the Republican Party. In the Presidential race for 2024, it seems that the Republicans are way ahead on initiative, if way behind on substance. Joe Biden’s achievements as President have been overshadowed by the downright dangerous antics of Trump and his followers.
I have often said that the media is a slave to sensationalism, and that outrageous, dangerous antics will always attract more media time and space than solid achievements. It is a major failing of the third estate that does not contribute to society and even detracts from its own essential role of public guardian.
My suggested strategy starts with the Democratic Party getting its own house in order, on a radical scale.
In a strange way, the Republican Party has already got its house in order by allowing the lunatic, far right, fringe to take over control of the party. No-one in the Republican Party, or at least very few, have had the guts to stand up to the Trump-inspired avalanche of un-democratic, authoritarian, violent and insurrectionist actions and rhetoric. In a bizarre way, the Republican Party is united, and knows what it wants. The Democratic Party is way out in left field on all of those counts: It is divided along many different lines, it appears to have no cohesive plan, and, at times, it almost seems to be reluctant, even afraid, to blast Trump’s march towards dictatorship in any effective way. It needs a drastic change of approach, in my humble opinion.
Currently, both parties have become the victims of their own radical elements, and both of those elements, left or right, are as bad for the country as each other. In both cases it is ‘the tail wagging the dog” because the majority of both democrats and republicans are much closer to the middle. It’s just that that large, potentially bi-partisan, group have just lost their voice/guts in face of the extremists. If they worked together, it would be an easy job to put the radical right and the radical left back in their fringe cages where they belong in a functioning democracy. The fringes are certainly necessary in a vibrant and dynamic democracy, but they are a complete liability if they are allowed to have any sort of control.
Why, then, couldn’t the Democratic Party look closely at the situation and say, “If we clean up our act by putting our radical elements back in their boxes, and let everyone know that’s what we are doing……..and actually do it……then we might begin to attract the moderates from both sides of the political divide”. A radical idea, perhaps, but definitely a logical strategy, and one that might just work.
I imagine, perhaps I hope, that the “Silent Majority” on both sides is absolutely fed up with the antics of their own radical elements, and they are certainly fed up with the antics of the other side’s radical elements.
In proposing this strategy, I am reminded of the very similar, and very successful, strategies of Bill Clinton in the US and Tony Blair in the UK. They both moved their policies slightly to the opposite side of the political spectrum from that which their parties traditionally represented. Both appealed to the moderate “right” and suppressed their own radical left. They both won handsomely, Clinton twice and Blair more. It could work again.
Incidentally, they are both still available for consultation, and it is absolutely guaranteed that they would both love the opportunity.
In today’s divisive, hostile and disaffected political environment, you could “bribe” the moderates on the other side, while retaining the support of your own side. Not easy, but it could be done with enough guts and money. In the current situation in the US, it might just save us from a Trump dictatorship.
I WOULD BE DELIGHTED TO HEAR THE VIEWS OF MY READERS ON THIS IDEA. (iancourtpr@gmail.com)
