Sam Smith - There's a trend in the Democratic debate which is
not likely to prove helpful in the long run: the liberal elite is taking
on Joe Biden as though he were a right-wing Republican. In fact, in his
last year in the Senate, Biden won a 75% approval rating from the
liberal Americans for Democrat Action, far from perfect but not
something to get too upset about.
What seems to be
happening is further evidence of a growing trend to treat one's politics
as a sign of one's religious virtue rather than as an imperfect system
for picking leaders. In fact, real change takes place between elections,
which are, in fact, more like inning scorecards in baseball. It took
years before issues such as civil rights, women's rights, and marijuana
freedom became acceptable at the national political level. The best an
activist can do is to support someone who stands a good chance of
winning and then, after the election, return to the battlefield. This
time the best person is the one most likely to beat Donald Trump.
The
other factor that few talk about is that liberals are much better
educated than in the past. For example, as I've noted before, when I
started as a journalist, most reporters had only a high school
education. One of the problems with this change is that it has separated
liberals class-wise from other Americans far more than was once the
case. For example liberals are far less interested in labor issues than
they once were. And Hillary Clinton referred to those she should have
been convincing as "deplorables." This is not so much a political matter
as a cultural one.Liberals no longer are as effective in reaching out
to others without their backgrounds.
This is dangerous
because, in fact, only about 25% of Americans define themselves as
liberals. To win they need to make new allies and currently they are
doing a lousy job of it.
This is why the Biden case is
useful. Biden, regardless of his faults, speaks United States. He talks
in a manner far removed from the professorial lecturing of a Sanders or
Warren. And this pays off. For example, the liberal elite attacked his
speech about how he handle the gang leader Corn Pop, but if you go back
and watch the video, you'll see he was successfully talking to young
blacks, but also telling a story that many whites could understand and
appreciate. It was the highly educated who considered it trashy.
If
I was the only person who mattered, I'd easily prefer Sanders or
Warren. But I'm also aware that what I think is a minority view in
America, indicated by the fact that Biden beats Trump in polls in nine
non-blue states, while Sanders only does in two, and Warren in one. This
might change, but right now Joe Biden is the most liberal candidate who
stands a chance of beating Donald Trump.
Sanders and
Warren could change this by perhaps engaging in a more personal and
conversational approach, but right now Biden is the strongest candidate
and, like it or not, this is not something to be ignored.
