7.17.24

AS DEFEATISM STALKS THE ELECTION, DEMOCRATS MUST STAY IN THE GAME - AND PLAY TO WIN

HERE’S SOME BREAKING NEWS for Democrats and all voters of good will:
     The 2024 election is not over.
     The election is not next week, next month or in two months. It’s Nov. 5.
     This means there’s an opportunity to defeat Donald Trump, the most dangerous and vile politician in our lifetime, and perhaps the most hideous character in all of American history.
     But a treacherous counterforce is starting to take hold: defeatism.
     Trump’s momentum is so powerful that for some people  his takeover of American government is no longer s question, but rather a matter of when work will be finished converting the Oval Office into a throne room.
     This inevitability creeps into news reports. The word “if”  - as  in “... if Donald Trump wins a second term” - seems both obligatory and unconvincing. Sometimes the “if” is left out altogether.
     The other night, I heard TV reporter say off-handedly that she had talked to a Democratic fund raiser, who not only was sure that the race was lost, but said the massive defeat would be a “party extinction event.”
     That’s an expression that I’ve not heard, and I’m older than, let’s say, Joe Biden.
     Yesterday, I saw a posting on The Bulwark website, which is unfriendly to Trump, in which Jonathan V. Last headlined his commentary  “It’s Time to Prepare for the Worst,” and proceeded to give readers a talking-to about realism and coming to grips with a probable new Trump era.

THERE’S NO DENYING that events have been relentlessly bad, very bad, for Democrats and fellow voters.
     It began with New York Times polls, which, instead of looking at the nation as a whole, concentrated on seven battleground states that are expected to determine the election, and finding that Trump was winning in most of them.
     Later came the moment that permanently wrecked our brains, President Joe Biden’s debate, in which he looked grave-ready rather than just old, speaking in a spectral voice that was too quiet and incomprehensible.
     And that was followed by an intraparty “debate” about replacing Old Joe with a fresh face, or maybe keeping Old Joe; the outcome  was itself  disastrous because it ended with no decision, only increased squabbling.
     And then there was Supreme Court ruling which said Trump, as a once and future president, could get a way with murder.
     And then there was the near assassination in Pennsylvania, with ionic photos of a bloodied Trump defiantly pumping his fists, giving supporters the fight chant while the American flag flew overhead. Put those images side by side with any photos of Old Joe at his most charming.
     And then Judge Aileen Cannon opened the new week by dismissing the stolen records case, the most clear-cut of the cases against Trump.
     As I’m writing now, I’m constantly scanning the news streams for the next development that will batter the spirits of soon-to-be-extinct Democrats.  In the event your TV isn’t working, because you threw something at it after the last blast of bad news, I’ll be sure to let you know when there’s something fresh and mean and heart-breaking.

THIS IS DANGEROUS STUFF: defeatism is an affliction that can take hold during an election campaign or any other human undertaking. It’s destructive. When we were young and candid, it was known as chickening out.
     Defeatism is particularly noxious because it’s something we do to ourselves. When the stakes are so high, as they are in this election – when the end means either democracy or dictatorship – this sort of self-inflicted surrender is a sin.
     Discouragement, disappointment, hopelessness, resignation, fatalism, they are lethal because they cancel the one thing, the only thing, that we have under our control, which is our will to keep trying.
    Sure, it sounds grown-up, mature, practical and responsible to realize that even before the votes are counted it’s obvious that we’re going to lose, so that  it makes sense to prepare now to survive the consequences.
     But we can’t have it both ways – staying the in the fight or or surrendering. Defeatism is not a neutral step. Planning to lose means giving up the possibility of winning.

I WISH I KNEW MORE ABOUT SPORTS, because they provide the best metaphors and cliches that Democrats and their pals desperately need at this moment if the election is to be saved.
     We need an inspired coach and enthusiastic cheerleaders, not disaster forecasters and fallout shelter architects.
     We need the kind of encouragement - short and simple bits of wisdom – that can be plastered onto locker room walls, reminding players what their brains require as they head onto the field:

IT AIN’T OVER ‘TIL IT’S OVER.
WINNERS NEVER QUIT.
YOU CAN'T WIN IF YOU DON’T PLAY.
IMPOSSIBLE IS NOT A FACT; IT’S AN OPINION.   

      Lately at our house, we’ve taken to streaming the British Premier League – soccer. After a couple of seasons, we still understand little about the sport and  remain confused by arcana, like the offside rules.
     But we have seen matches that end in stunning upsets during the closing minutes and seconds.
      Even as TV cameras show fans of the losing side exiting the stadium in disgust at their team’s betrayal, things are happening down on the pitch.
     Suddenly, the presumptive losers score a goal during a mob scene at the net that’s so confusing several replays are needed for commentators and fans to figure out who did what and how.
    Or the losing side gets a penalty kick, in which a lone player gets a shot at the goal that’s almost impossible for the opposing goal keeper to block.
     “You, you, you defeatists,” we yell at the departing fans who have missed the most thrilling moments of the game. “You should have stayed in your overpriced seats.” (We have no idea what tickets cost.)
     To be honest, these things usually don’t happen.
     But they can.
     There’s a reason why underdogs often don’t win.
     But they can.
     Teams that are behind rarely overturn lopsided scores.
     But they can.