Biden’s biggest problem, it seems to me, is that he is quietly producing everything Americans say they want but his story telling grandpa personality doesn’t instill confidence. He can’t quite convince the public that the economy is good when they’ve been brain-washed by others that it isn’t. A majority of the voting public wants a younger, more dynamic, more charismatic president who will do what Biden is doing. It’s a high hurdle to get over. Age is no predictor of competence and Biden has demonstrated presidential competence in most everything he does. Still, his public persona gives critics ammunition to question his abilities base on nothing more than his folksy way of talking and life long speech impediment. He’s an easy target for those who accuse him of losing mental acuity in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary: he has a firm grasp on dozens of complex issues. It’s time to pass the torch of leadership to younger generations and Biden may be the agent of transition who will bequeath a healthier, stronger nation to them.
More disheartening is the sizable minority of voters who want Trump and trumpism. That he is ahead in critical polls is astounding and somewhat frightening. A man whose entire life, including his four years as president, is a tale of bold moral and criminal malfeasance in every facet of life. He is a sly, foxy street smart operator with a low level intellect and no sign of wisdom. He appears to be losing whatever grip on reality he has had. As the nets of justice close in on him there is a possibility that his candidacy will collapse. But trumpism will not. It will be picked up by another who has less personal baggage to carry. My guess is that trumpism’s appeal stems from fears and anxieties and simple solutions fixing blame on imaginary communists or vulnerable immigrants.
So what is trumpism? There must be dozens of narratives attempting to define it, yet it’s an elusive target. Trumpism is emotion without substance, a political movement of grievance real and imagined, begotten of fear mongering and decades of propaganda masquerading as news. Its authors and manipulators are after power, absolute power. Its voting public adherents are willing to believe in promises that ghosties, ghoulies and things that go bump in the night will be defeated. They are willing to surrender democracy to authoritarianism in the expectation that the freedoms they most cherish for themselves will be preserved. What happens to others and their freedoms is of little consequence.
What kind of America do they envision? I doubt they could say. The 1998 film “Pleasantville” might come the closest. Life in Pleasantville was calm, ordered, undemanding, and undisturbed by unwanted changes or conflicts elsewhere. Most important, it was a place free from fear of economic hardship, property confiscation, immigrants undermining the social status quo, and not one violent street criminal – all the threats liberals represent to them. For whatever reason, they don’t trust representative democracy elected through universal suffrage to give them their Pleasantville. It’s nothing new. There’s always been a sizable minority of Americans who long for a nostalgic past, are resistant to social change, and distrust government. What makes the current crop different is they’ve become a powerful political movement nurtured into existence by self serving persons who are certain they could, if given the chance, run the country for their own personal benefit, which would somehow be good for the country. None of this muddling through stuff for them. Quick authoritative decisions made by people best equipped to make them, that’s the answer. Who were they? Mostly hard core libertarians and anti taxers who spent years plowing, sowing, and fertilizing a political movement grown from voter discontent.
Perhaps the recent elections indicate recognition by more of the public that trumpism is a threat to democracy driven by greed, fear, ignorance and delusion/. We shall see.
Yes. Amen.