Freedom Rider: The electability canard

Hapless Joe Biden has always failed in his presidential bids, but is hyped as supremely “electable” this time around because Democratic elites fear and loath Bernie Sanders.

The latest scheme of getting Democratic voter support is to claim that particular presidential candidates are more electable than others. At this juncture that concept is highly problematic and the claims surrounding it are largely meaningless. Corporate media pundits and the party establishment use the idea of electability to get support for their favorites. Silencing progressives is also a rationale for bestowing the questionable designation.

If there were any honesty in this dubious process Bernie Sanders would be given this mantle. He was unexpectedly successful in his challenge against front runner Hillary Clinton in 2016. Had it not been for Democratic Party efforts to rig the race against him he might have won. He has past experience as a presidential candidate and his policy proposals are also popular among voters. But the Democratic Party establishment doesn’t want him and as a result he never gets the vaunted label.

On the other hand, hapless Joe Biden is said to be a more electable candidate. He has failed miserably in past presidential runs and his tenure as Barack Obama’s vice president has given him none of the gravitas that one might expect. He is still the bumbling lesser light who forgets Obama’s name, doesn’t know what state he is in, tells stories about confronting black men named Corn Pop, and makes unintelligible comments on issues that he should discuss with ease.

The idea of electability is especially important to black voters, who have fearfully tossed their own political needs under the bus in exchange for guaranteeing Democratic Party victory. They are particularly susceptible to being swayed in this regard due to their desire to be rid of Donald Trump.

But the game is rigged yet again. In televised debates Joe Biden nearly lost his dentures, had an eye fill with blood, told black people to play records to improve their kids vocabulary, and tried to live down past racist statements. Yet, we are told that black voters prefer him to other candidates. If that is true, it is only because the electability propaganda has done its job.

The dreadful trap that black voters find themselves in has only tightened since Trump’s election. After the Democrats’ 2016 debacle all of their rank and file should be extremely skeptical of their claims and black people should be leading that charge. Instead most Democrats are even more obedient to the people who failed them so badly. They live and die by any and every idea that speaks to the possibility of Trump’s defeat.

The charade is particularly laughable because Trump lost the popular vote. If Hillary Clinton had mustered 80,000 more votes from three states, she would have won the electoral vote. Much of the speculation about electability and the need to win over Trump voters is unnecessary. There isn’t much mystery involved in winning the 2020 election. The get out the vote effort that the 2016 campaign eschewed and an appealing program should result in a Democratic Party victory.

But the Democrats don’t want a candidate who proposes what the people need and want. Their electability conundrum is an effort to gaslight voters into giving up what they should be demanding. The neoliberal austerity regime is willing to risk defeat rather than take a chance that the wrong person may win.

That is why electability is such a prominent buzzword this year. It is an admission that they want to deny the nomination to anyone who is in fact best able to defeat Trump.

They want to put lipstick on a pig and hope that porky wins the beauty contest.

All of these histrionics are proof that leftists must dump the Democrats once and for all. The Democratic Party is fundamentally corrupt. It is less a political party than a marketing scheme using psy-ops to dupe their voters into believing they will work on their behalf. Democratic Party victories result in feel good lip service but rarely any policies that benefit the people.

The primary process is a hoax for the left. Every four years they live in hope that a progressive has a chance for victory. The wish never comes true but the idea of moving outside of the party is rarely considered. The trap is set as the party whips up fear and loathing against anyone who considers rejecting the person chosen to put a progressive veneer on neoliberalism.

Detachment from the Democrats is an absolute necessity. That party is uninterested in change. They are devoted to corporate fealty and acts of aggression around the world. That is why they lie about who is more electable but the time has come to be rid of them and their corrupt scheming. The quadrennial farce is an opportunity to free ourselves from the charade. The discussion in 2020 should be about extricating the left from the con game once and for all.

Margaret Kimberley’s Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well at freedomrider.blogspot.com.  Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com.