The results of the election brought a profound sense of relief and an urge to celebrate, but those thoughts were tinged with painful disappointment. The sense of relief stemmed from the fact that the nation will be spared another four years of Trump’s arrogance, ignorance and narcissism. The march to neo-fascism has been halted. Had Trump been re-elected I was prepared to explore seriously the possibility of emigration, not easy for octogenarians but an option that could not to be ignored. Happily, it now seems that will be unnecessary.
The White House has announced that it will initiate a broad campaign of legal challenges seeking to overturn the election results. I have discussed the possibility of such maneuvers previously and will not reprise them here. (See, Blog No. 265 and Blog No. 269 discussing a possible Trump coup.) At this point, however, I believe that Biden’s victory will be too obvious and too firmly established for such efforts to gain any traction. Should I prove tragically wrong, the emigration option will have to be reconsidered.
I saw the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as a cause for celebration because I believe that Biden will be a good, and possibly great, president. To be sure, the challenges he will face are staggering. Just domestically: a pandemic getting worse rather than better, a fragile economy, healthcare, climate change, racial divisions, and fiscal dangers. Moreover, the difficulty of addressing those challenges will be heightened by the likelihood of a Senate remaining under the thumb of Mitch McConnell. Still, Biden has the experience and the character to meet those challenges and wrestle them into at least some measure of progress.
In foreign relations, Biden will restore America’s position of leadership among our erstwhile allies so often ignored or insulted by Trump. He will deal with our adversaries and rivals without belligerence, but firmly and in coordination with our allies. Vladimir Putin will no longer have a chum in the White House. And Biden will not join Putin in the cozy club of dictators whose style of governance Trump has openly admired: Mohammed bin Salam, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Kim Jong Un, and Xi Jinping.
Vice-President Harris is more of an unknown quantity, but I have confidence in Biden’s judgment in selecting her. I am sure she will serve Biden loyally—whatever their past differences, his agenda will be her agenda. But I also expect that her contributions will be free of the cloying sycophancy Trump demanded and received from Mike Pence.
At one level, I am disappointed that Democrats appear unlikely to control the Senate. This has the potential of leading to the kind of gridlock we can ill afford. I understand the argument of Peggy Noonan and others that a Republican Senate will help Biden to fend off the woollier proposals from the progressive wing of the Democratic party. There is something to that argument, but I am more concerned that a Republican Senate could keep Biden from getting anything done on healthcare, climate change and other matters neglected in the Trump administration.
More fundamentally, I was deeply disappointed I must admit, that the election did not bring a clear repudiation of Trump and his Republican enablers. I was of the “Burn it Down” camp, hoping that such a repudiation might allow a reformed and restored party to spring from the ashes and become again the Party of Lincoln. Some time ago there was considerable discussion of what the Republican Party might become after Trump, and in Blog No. 267 I promised an assessment of the prospects for the Republican party after January 20. All that now seems hopelessly academic. The Republican Party remains as firmly in the grip of Trump and Trumpism as ever, with no opportunity for change in sight.
The consequences are personal. I have been a registered Republican since 1956, but I can continue no longer. Two good friends, Republicans with views similar to mine, counseled against leaving the party, arguing that it “is a more meaningful statement to remain a moderate member of the GOP than becoming a new Democrat.” I respect that argument and, in fact, it is what has kept me within the party for the past several years. Yet, given the current shape of the party, it can sustain me no longer. The Trump Republican Party has no place for moderates, and there have to be stronger grounds for party membership than history and past associations.
I am going to become a registered Democrat. I considered becoming an Independent (or Unaffiliated in California lingo), but decided that being inside the Democratic tent would put me in a better position to argue against the excesses of my progressive colleagues. (I understand that my actual influence lies somewhere between theoretical and imaginary, but to write, I feel the need of a starting point.)
That brings me to the question of what to do about RINOcracy.com. From the outset, this blog has been written from the perspective of someone in dissent from several Republican orthodoxies, but nevertheless within the Republican Party. That is no longer the case, and if the blog is to continue, some re-naming and re-modeling will be needed. That is something I will consider over the next several weeks and, while I don’t imagine it is an issue of much concern to readers, I would welcome any thoughts or suggestions you might have,
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I drafted this blog before watching President-Elect Biden’s speech on Saturday night. I have watched many presidential speeches in my time, but this one was different. It left me with tears in my eyes, proud to be a Biden Democrat and proud to be an American.
Stay calm and carry on! No doubt there will be much to discuss in the coming weeks. If you want to write, clearly you have a fan base!
Doug, all of us need the benefit of your wisdom and experience–even those across the aisle. Please keep your posts coming.
Doug, My best wishes to you regardless of what direction you take in the future. I have enjoyed and been edified from your blogs even if I personally may have disagreed with many of your points and opinions since I find myself leaning much further right. I am a bit surprised that you have chosen to embrace and join the Democratic Party. It seems to me that you have accomplished one of your goals by having the Trumpster defeated as president and I think there is much you could still do promoting your views in the GOP. I recall you saying back in 2013, —
“I think that survival of the Republican Party is in the national interest and its survival may depend on the Party changing its course in some respects. And whatever small influence I might have in advocating such change is more likely to have some effect from within than without.”
May I suggest that perhaps your work as a RINO is not yet done.
Wow. I am impressed by your recalling and unearthing my words of 2013. I think the view you quote was valid when I expressed it, but 2020 is very different from 2013. Donald Trump has taken the worst instincts of the Republican Party and put them on steroids while adding several of his own. Moreover, there is every indication that, even if Trump mercifully disappears, Trumpism will remain. I clung to the hope of reform and renewal of the Republican Party as long as I could, but I can no longer. There comes a time when enough is enough. But I appreciate your comment and encourage you to offer further dissents as you feel inclined. I put great value in disagreements thoughtfully expressed.
Thanks, Doug. Perhaps a bit of Trumpism without Trump might have some benefits.
Doug: An old NY FDR Dem through Obama and Biden welcomes you to the tent. Never worry about fitting in,as Will Rogers described us: “I don’t belong to an established political party. I’m a Democrat” (Or words to that effect.) And if Past is Prologue, you’ll have plenty to blog about in the coming months.
I’ve found your comments helpful, in many instances clarifying important issues. So, on a selfish level, I hope you continue. As for a name, I really don’t think it matters much.
Dear Doug,
Be forewarned: being a centrist Democrat is no walk in the park either (trust me). I agree with all your other commentators…but for me, Anne Miller summed it up best. Stay with us!
Your fan,
Monica
Biden has won and that is grounds to celebrate. A narrow but decisive victory we can all be proud of. The
Republican Party must reinvent itself or remain in exile for many years to come. Although the fever has not passed,
its followers may in time learn the virtue of moderation. Your blog is marvelous and should continue under a new
name — something along the lines of Heather Cox Richardson’s “Letters from an American,” Thank you for helping
save the Republic!
Let me join the chorus and urge you to continue with your blog no matter what the name of the blog is or what you choose as your political affiliation. . Your insight and wit have been so valuable to all of us trying to navigate the last 4 years ( and I don’t think U No Hu is going away). Names? How about Reasonocracy, Sanitocracy, LightInTheDarkocracy.
Doug:
First of all, don’t stop writing your blog. As those above make clear there is a cohort including me that believes in your reasoning and your ability to steer your combine through the fields and thickets of DC and the state capitols separating the kernels of wisdom and common sense from the lighter-than-air bloviating chaff assaulting our eyes and ears. (And no apologies for the metaphor, as I think of my frustrated fellow farmers in all those red counties on the map kicking at the stubble and dirt clods of their fallow fields while we in blue California continue to harvest in November.)
And secondly, welcome to the Democratic Party! As you know we’re not perfect either, but we are welcoming, we’re pretty much all inclusive, we’re diverse, and can fuss and feud with the best of ‘em.
And finally (well not finally, finally), there are the issues that are important to all of us and which you so eloquently parse for us. We may not always agree but please keep speaking you mind on health care, immigration, wealth inequity, education and labor opportunities, and whatever else is on your mind including the Cubs comeback in 2021. We’ll be waiting for Blog No. 272.
Tony
We need your common sense and wisdom more every day. Treacherous waters lie ahead and navigation won’t be easy or obvious. Your blog is an important addition to our lives and a comfort for those of us who are less informed but care mightily about our country. Thank you. Stay with us.
Beautiful, Doug. Well said and well felt. Welcome to the transition I went through myself some years ago, when it became clear to me that moderates could not play a meaningful role in the GOP. I shed a few tears of my own, reading of yours.
How about Radically Centrist? And thank you for Rinocracy.
I like this one, Susan. Who woulda thunk being a centrist would be so radical?!!
How about Radical Centrism?
Doug, I agree with Don Phillips; please continue the blog. I couldn’t care less about the name. What is important are the thoughts.
Centrism is still under assault. Many if not most Republican leaders still deny Biden has won. Knowing the Republican tendency to devour its young, I fear the purge of moderates will continue. On the Democrats’ side AOC already is claiming Biden could never have won without the help of progressives. While some/many of their ideas may be adopted, most Biden voters cast their ballots for moderation and are reluctant to move too far to the left or right.
I would love to think the 2020 election will result in a reassessment of Republican values and a redirection of where the party is going, however I am too much of a realist. The party we all knew is gone, perhaps never to return. Will there be another party rising in its place? History has not been kind to such efforts. It would appear we are left with the option of working within the two existing political parties to make them, and the nation, reflect our better values.
Your deliberation, Doug, of your party identification is something I deeply respect. Taking politics seriously, one’s affiliation should reflect their true values and feelings. I’ve evolved from the moderate to progressive leanings of my Republican parents in my youth to being a moderate Democrat in more recent years. I recall hearing Biden speak at UCLA when he was a first term senator, and developed a respect for him as a moderate Democrat ready and able to work across party lines to make progress on contentious issues, sometimes to his own political disadvantage. How much this approach will work with the current Republican senate is questionable, but it is what the nation needs to lessen the vast divide that now exists. Knowing that we need a functional two party system, and liking moderate Republican views on some issues, I would like to believe that there is a future for moderate Republicans, and that they will reemerge as a voice within the party establishment. That hope, perhaps overly optimistic, is the prime reason I have so valued the Rinocracy posts in recent years. The party of Lincoln and his values is desperately needed.
Please keep sharing your thoughts. These conversations will help us find or create a new center.
Doug, please keep on commenting on political happenings and possibilities, regardless of your party affiliation and the name you deide to use for the blog. I would sorely miss your insights if you abandoned your blog.
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