The Democrats claim to be the opposition party, but they seek out Republicans, hate the left of their own party, and don’t seem to care if they lose the election.
The Democratic Party has ended any debate or dispute about its true nature. It is a party representing neo-liberal interests and international gangsterism, just like their putative opposition, the Republican Party.
Even a cursory observation of the recent Democratic National Convention proves that this assessment is correct. There were paeans of love to the late warmonger John McCain and even an appearance from his widow. A special segment was set aside for Republicans like John Kasich whose speech was used in part to beat down progressives and make clear that Joe Biden wants nothing to do with them. Not to be outdone with Kasich and McCain’s ghost, war criminal Colin Powell was dragged out to put the bipartisan imperialist seal of approval on Biden.
The convention was high on production value but skimpy on details. Speaker after speaker repeated that Donald Trump is a very bad, terrible, awful, pandemic denier who cozies up to dictators. They didn’t say how they would undo his evil deeds or make life better for the average person in this country. The awful Biden slogan of Build Back Better is meaningless. That, of course, is why they use it. The slogan may as well be He’s Not Trump because that is all the Democrats had to say.
Of course the truth can’t be hidden for long. Ted Kaufman was Biden’s Senate chief of staff and successor after he became vice president. He now heads the Biden transition team. Kaufman told the Wall Street Journal that no one should expect increases in government spending should Biden win. “When we get in, the pantry is going to be bare. When you see what Trump’s done to the deficit… forget about Covid-19, all the deficits that he built with the incredible tax cuts. So we’re going to be limited.” Government spending is exactly what people in this country need to recover economically. Yet they are told to expect nothing of the sort. More austerity is coming our way regardless of the electoral outcome.
The dust had hardly cleared when Rahm Emanuel, a former congressman, Barack Obama’s chief of staff, and mayor of Chicago explained what was obvious to even the casual observer. The Democrats are repeating their failed 2016 strategy of wooing Republicans. “This is the year of the Biden Republican,” said Emanuel.
No one knows that there are any Biden Republicans. The presence of Republicans at the convention and a handful of prominent people known colloquially as “never Trumpers” didn’t help Hillary Clinton in 2016. New York Senator Charles Schumer can never live down his 2016 prediction. “For every blue collar Democrat we will lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two, three moderate Republicans in the suburbs of Philadelphia and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.” The Democrats are letting us know two things. One, they are de facto Republicans, and seek out Republican voters by espousing conservative policies. Two, they aren’t particularly concerned about losing. They hope to thread the needle and win by using a strategy proven to be a failure. But devotion to their donors and their interests outweigh everything else, including winning. Disappearing any expectation of progressive policies is a victory for them.
The serious Democratic campaign took place earlier this year, when the party establishment took great pains to defeat Bernie Sanders. Black people were played by their misleaders into supporting the same neo-liberal policies that are destroying their lives. It was not difficult to do with a voting block that has whittled down its demands to just one, keeping Republicans out of office. Black primary voters were the marks in the con game, as the Democrats coalesced around Biden and Sanders agreed to play the role of dupe.
Lest we forget, Barack Obama once declared himself to be a “moderate Republican.” Not that he needed to say it after repeatedly proclaiming his admiration for Ronald Reagan. There should be no surprise that his party now dispenses with any pretense. If Democrats choose to vote for Biden, it should be with honesty and eyes wide open. There will be no holding feet to the fire, moving anyone left, or expecting Medicare for All or a minimum wage increase. A Republican will be inaugurated president in January 2021. No one should expect anything different.
Margaret Kimberley’s Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well at patreon.com/margaretkimberley and she regularly posts on Twitter @freedomrideblog. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com.
