Continued from Part 3.
An adjacent, and frankly way more annoying, conversation is the now age-old question: is the Democratic Party too woke?
There’s a real possibility that – at least in part – Biden could tacked left in the 2020 general and won because people perceived him as a moderate, while Harris tacked to the middle and lost because of the 2020 primary. Cursed year.
One spaghetti-against-the-wall accusation that isn’t sticking is that this is Tim Walz’s fault.
Whether Democrats should move to the left or to the right or towards institutions or away from them etc etc is not an area, or areas, where we should expect clear answers any time soon.
What does seem clear is that Democrats have officially lost the Obama coalition.
We must not delude ourselves in this moment. Multiracial democracy in the United States is less than 60 years old. It has always been contested, often violently so. It has always been fragile. Since this nation’s inception large swaths of white Americans — including white women — have claimed a belief in democracy while actually enforcing a white ethnocracy. In the face of shifting demographics where white Americans will lose their numeric majority, we see a growing embrace of autocracy to keep the “legitimate” rulers of this country in power. History teaches us that we are in a perilous moment.
One person that folks on the left and in the middle are increasingly coalescing around is AOC, a lefty who has shown she knows how to play the game.
One area where we should expect to see economic and social centrism to take hold is blue cities and states where the shifts to the right were particularly pronounced and worrisome.
While it is WAY TOO EARLY to begin talking about 2028 (let’s survive 2025 first with RFK Jr. in charge of HHS, please), one figure that’s captured the internet’s attention is, somewhat bizarrely, California Governor and man who is probably too handsome and almost certainly too evil (said with an almost begrudging respect) to actually be President.
If Gavin Newsom wants to be President (for my fellow Californians: hahahahahahahahahahahha)… you better build some housing and high-speed rail and build it now, my guy.
In the end, I will miss this ticket and the joy they brought to the otherwise soul-crushing experience that is following U.S. politics too closely.
Goodbye for now, Tim Walz.
Goodbye for now, our coconut queen.
Madame Vice President, from one job seeker to another: first round of margaritas are on me. And I know a blue state that you have some ties to that will need a governor in a couple years. (Kidding. Mostly.)
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