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As Campaign Heats Up, Democratic Candidates Must Avoid Low Road and Inspire a Bedraggled and Hesitant Populace
There is not, nor will there ever be, a perfect person. So why would there ever be a perfect candidate or a perfect leader? There won’t be. The best we can hope for is a person who looks toward the future, with an eye on the past and a sense of what’s fractured us right now.
In 2016, after a long primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, the Democratic Party entered the general election highly fractured, with some on the left swearing to stay home instead of vote. In the general election, that fracture deepened. Suspicion won over the American population. Over the last three years, it keeps winning. Doubt. Attacks on our institutions. Arousing outrage and enabling conspiracies to spread. That general suspicion can’t overtake us on the left again. The candidates seem to agree on that in theory, but the nature of the primary game and of media coverage of the primary thrives on attack and controversy. Lurking beyond the race is the ever-present question: Who can defeat Trump?
Nobody trusts the poll numbers that show every one of the Democratic candidates can beat Trump. Or, even if they think it’s likely, many on the left are afraid to say it, for fear of spreading a sense of optimism/certainty. As if saying what we know…
