With Sanders Out, Is There A Good Reason to Vote for the Democrat in November?

The Sanders campaign finally came to an end, so there was no longer any argument to make about waiting to see what happens, or that there were still a lot of delegates to go; the only argument that remains in presidential politics, left of Fox News, is: "We Must Beat Trump," and "What About the Supreme Court?" I can't say my advice would be to vote 3rd party or just not vote, but I find it really difficult to publicly support, or even cast a ballot for the Establishment - and that is what Joe Biden represents.

I know, there is no Establishment. But, maybe we have different definitions. I don't believe the Establishment is the center of a grand conspiracy, and I don't believe its members meet in one secret location. It is simply the reflection of concentrated power in American politics. Bernie Sanders, although a U.S. senator, nevertheless built a campaign of diffuse power - lots of small donations from nurses, teachers, Uber drivers, grocery store employees ... you know ... "essential employees." The Establishment is made up of the people and institutions who have the most political power because they have access to material wealth in enormously disproportionate terms. The Establishment is mostly the largest, wealthiest industries that influence policy in Washington, and the politicians and organizations who listen to them and help them execute their agenda. The Sanders campaign railed against many of them - and you knew he meant it. This is incredibly rare for a Senator, or even a Senator's intern's cat's vet.

In the end, you can write all kinds of think pieces about why Sanders failed to win big enough early on to justify staying in this race, but if one steps back, it is kind of amazing he made it as far as he did. His campaign harshly criticized - and in some cases made it clear that President Sanders would implement policies that would do great harm to - insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare companies, defense companies, petro-chemical companies, Wal-Mart, Amazon, billionaires in general. In short, Sanders and his campaign made pretty much every powerful enemy one could make in this country.

If you think those powerful enemies were just sitting on the periphery twiddling their thumbs, and that the DNC and corporate media were just playing a fair game in the middle of all of this, then you are the dumbest person who ever lived. Are you a baby?

Then there is Joe Biden. As I say, the Establishment isn't as coordinated as it would like, and I suspect many of those within that world did not have him as their main choice for beating back Sanders and taking the nomination. But he seems particularly ill-suited for this moment.

Even before we were all locked in our homes, and morgues were above capacity, there was a crisis brewing. The economy was not, and is not, working for most people, especially younger people who have plenty of debt but don't own homes or have pensions. Australia was on fire, and much of the rest of the world was alternating between devastating fires and receding coastlines. Migration was increasingly criminalized, and ...

Oh yeah, what about the kids in cages? I'm glad liberals and centrists pay attention to such things when someone they don't like is in power, but there were children in cages when Obama was president, and if Biden, or some corporate Dem who takes his place before November, becomes president, there will be children in cages still. The argument here comes down to minimizing harm. If we elect the Democrat, there will be less suffering. And, who can argue with less suffering?

But, honestly, the water is pretty muddy here. Most notably, what about the long-term damage caused by letting the Democratic Party reset to its moderate position? The Republican Party is a lost cause, so for those of us who care about human rights and the planet, all we have as far as official, US politics is concerned, is the Democratic Party. Say what you will about Joe Biden, his party remains the political party of AOC and Ilhan Omar, and I can't imagine them existing in the Republican Party. But, if the Democratic Party is moving rightward with a Biden nomination, why give them a vote of confidence. If we overwhelmingly go out and vote for Biden, why would the never-Sanders Establishment feel the need to lift a finger for the things we care about ("we" meaning the people who want universal healthcare and a green new deal, but aren't into imperialism). Even if Biden were marginally better than Trump in the short-term, is a victory for him essentially like taking one step forward and two steps back?

Well maybe if we're talking about the meta-struggle between the left and right wings of the Democratic Party and the effect that a victory for one would have on politics long-term, but the Supreme Court throws a wrench in everything. Supreme Court justices serve for life, and that is pretty long-term. That is decades in which quite a bit could change, but the same, crusty, Trump-appointed majority could be derailing any positive change enacted by President Ocasio-Cortez's successor.

Sadly, this is a tough one. It is, probably the most compelling reason for me to vote Democrat (if I lived in a swing state). But, there are two major problems with it.

First, it is not new, and it is always, conveniently, an urgent matter. Perhaps if, some day, progressives have a solid 6 or 7 justices on the Court, all in their 30's, we won't hear this argument anymore; but there is always a chance that one or more progressive justices are going to die or retire, and there is always a reason to ensure that the Court doesn't move in the conservative direction, even by a single justice. So there will always be a reason for centrists and the Democratic Establishment to shame the left as they put forward another third-way, conservative by global standards, careerist, as our only hope to stop fascism. It is an argument I've heard all my life, especially when Ralph Nader was running promising campaigns with the Green Party. If you have any hope of political change by electoral means, this argument will always be the cudgel for the status quo - so either stop caring about that kind of change or ignore this argument.

The second problem with the Supreme Court argument, is that it is uninspiring. It's the old, "Vote Your Hopes, Not Your Fears," in reverse. And yes, I'm familiar with the retort: "the Supreme Court makes life or death decisions for millions of people, so fuck you if you need to be inspired." But the inspiration I'm talking about is not the tingly feeling you get when you see a good movie, or the awe you feel when you see someone on the street you've only seen before on TV. I mean the inspiration you feel when you see a path to a better world.

It is a feeling I had for a couple of weeks when Sanders was doing well; it's also a feeling I've had whenever I witness, or am part of, a powerful movement for social change - the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, for example. I've never met Bernie Sanders. He seems like a genuinely decent person, which was a big part of his appeal. But I could care less if he became president, or a half-eaten bag of potato chips became president, if it meant that someone (or something) was going to fight for policies (and their corresponding values) I care about from a position of political power. I could care less about the person running, if I thought their victory might bring incredible, positive political change. That's the inspiration I'm talking about - the feeling one gets when they feel that something could improve in a big, sweeping way, not just for them but for millions if not billions of people. That inspiration is so rare; and it doesn't come in the form of "vote against someone who will appoint bad justices to the Supreme Court (and will likely succeed in doing so even if the Democratic Party wins back the Senate)."

So, yes, if you live in a swing state, you should probably vote for the Democrat in November. But here's the inspiring message for a possible Biden (or Cuomo?) win: He will be terrible, as expected, but they generally all are. I have thoughts about why meaningful protests have not been very successful with Trump in power. One of those thoughts is that a lot of us feel somewhat powerless as it seems unlikely such protests would have much effect on his administration. Like an undisciplined child, he seems to not distinguish between good attention and bad attention. With a Democrat in the White House, especially the typical kind who care about their legacy, or something, activists have no excuse. The two biggest American social movements post-Iraq war - Occupy Wall Street and Black Live Matter - happened when Obama was in office.

Ultimately, that is probably the best argument for voting Democrat 98% of the time - they suck and they don't really care about you, but they care about looking like they care about you, and Republicans do not. Centrist Democrats can be more easily shamed into doing what is right, in spite of their membership in the Establishment club.

But damn, we could have had one who really cared.