What if the Democratic Party was Actually Afraid of Trump?
What if the Democratic Party was Actually Afraid of Trump?
What if the DNC "pulled out all the stops," offering popular policies against the wishes of donors?
This week Democrats are feeling good about Kamala’s current slight lead over Trump, but given the stakes, and the Democrats’ dire warnings about Trump, the party shouldn’t leave anything on the table, even if that goes against the large donors’ preferences.
Have most of the donations for the 2024 campaign already been collected, giving the party enough cash in hand to survive until November on small individual donations? Is the party more scared of alienating corporations, large donors, and the deep state than losing to Trump?1
LEV = Lesser Evil Voting
(Power without Legitimacy)
It’s no secret that the Democratic and Republican Parties have developed a formula for maintaining power without the support of the electorate — LEV “Lesser Evil Voting”2 allows elites to perpetuate an unpopular system by a process of divide and rule. Their party platforms are chosen by consultants who select social or cultural issues that excite portions of the public without threatening the elites and donor class.
Donald Trump has been a multi-election gift to the Democrat Party for three successive elections: 2016, 2020, and now 2024. Where would the Democratic Party and corporate media be now without Trump? Each election the party runs on a minimal platform, offering itself up as the perceived “lesser evil” (for some) and crying that an Armageddon/ Fascist government will engulf America if Trump comes to power.
If the Democrats lose, do elites cash in?
But does the Democratic Party really fear a Trump 2024 win, or if Trump wins, will the party leaders and consultants just cash in on lucrative “private sector” deals and will the media outlets milk conflict for elevated ratings?
Is this the best the Party could do?
Do you disagree with me — Is the Democratic Party really sincere? Are the Obama-Biden-Harris “Joy”/ “Hope & Change” platforms really the best the party could offer? Some Wall Street Bankers expressed regret that they were too greedy in causing the 2008 financial crisis. In the depth of the crisis they expressed remorse that they had milked the system rather than advocating real reform.
Will Donors Sacrifice to Prevent Trump?
To avoid this fate, a simple thought experiment would be to ask yourself what the Democratic Party would be willing to ask elites/donors to “sacrifice” to prevent Trump from winning the election? FDR “saved capitalism” with his New Deal. What sort of a concessions would the party be willing to make and what would that deal look like?
In the above Venn Diagram:
Popular and reform opinions are on the left and
Elite/donor opinion is on the right.
The middle contains the “compromise” issues that are currently acceptable for the parties to offer to voters because they aren’t deemed objectionable to the elite/donor class.
What Concessions Could Elite Democrats Make to Forestall Trump?
What do you think would be popular issues to win votes that the Democratic elites could offer as elite concessions to defeat Trump? The goal of these is to make systemic reforms that offer hope of a better political system, that pushes us past “Lesser Evil Voting,” lessening the power of corrupt and entrenched influences.3
Leave your comments below or email me. Here are some ideas:
Campaign Finance Reform: propose a Constitutional Amendment to limit money in politics. Would this be feasible and popular with the voters?
Publicly Funded campaigns with limited popular matching funds
Curb Monopoly Power / Big Tech, etc4
Corporate and Individual Taxes for the Wealthy
Use Influence to get a Real Gaza Ceasefire / Hostage Release
End Endless Wars
Medicare for All?
Term Limits
Ending LTL: Lawmakers to Lobbyists
Curb the MICIMATT5: could this win votes without costing the party Democrat MICIMATT supporters
Can they strengthen the platform on climate change without costing fracking votes in Pennsylvania?
Other ideas:
Public financing for local news, as specified in Columbia Journalism Review6
Footnotes:
(Mark), Two possible counterarguments why the Democratic Party does not fear alienating corporations, and wealthy donors: A) Either you don’t believe that elite donations generally sways party policy (why would they then donate) or B) you believe the party already has so much money that they can afford to be independent of donor preferences. (too flush with cash to be bribed or blackmailed, so why donate)
One proposal for addressing LEV — “Lesser Evil Voting” — is “Ranked Choice Voting,” which can be adopted on a state by state basic. This system would enable alternate political parties to compete without falling victim to the “election spoiler” dynamic that led to accusations like Ralph Nader . What are your thoughts on this?
Most of these proposals are aimed at Democratic leadership, but if you want to offer reforms that would attract Republicans, and Independents, feel free.
This could spur a wider discussion on the types of reforms that could address the polarization and division. Though the proposals might fall short now, could they lead to fundamental change when the time is right?
Kamala Harris hasn’t said she supports Federal Trade Commissioner Lina Khan against attacks from billionaire like Reid Hoffman and Barry Diller. This causes supporters of Anti-Monopoly (competition) regulations to suspect that the current system gives large donors undue influence and threatens the prospects of effective regulation in a Harris administration. Video: Lina Khan’s Stellar ‘60 Minutes’ Appearance
The Atlantic: The Wrath of Khan, by Christopher Beam
Ray McGovern coined the term MICIMATT to describe how the Military Industrial Complex has expanded to create the:
Military
Industrial
Congressional
Intelligence
Media
Academia
Think Tank complex.
I wrote song lyrics about this concept:
Some ideas are systemically important in reforming governance but are not (yet) popular enough to win a significant number of votes to motivate vote-counting politicians, but I’d still be interested in hearing them.