Joe Biden Needs to Represents All Americans, Not Just BS Supporters

[TomCADem]

There is the 2016 talking point that Joe Biden needs to change the approach that has lead him to trounce Bernie in major swing states, and adopt a BS platform. The premise is that by adopting BS's platform, Biden will be able to keep supports of BS in the Democratic fold who might otherwise vote for Trump. There are several problems with this premise:

1. It assumes BS's supporter are strictly supporting him because of his platform. This is not true. BS's own campaign rhetoric that is heavily based on attacks on the Democratic party establish that this is not the case. BS has cultivated resentment against Democrats and the Democratic party regardless of platform. Remember when Hillary placed Cornell West on the DNC platform committee? Did he then support Hillary? No. Indeed, Cornell West continued to call for dumping the Democratic party even as the Democratic platform grew more progressive. BS's own rhetoric shows that it is not about the issues. It is about blaming Democrats. That is why about 20 percent of BS supporters might vote for Trump, because they have been conditioned to hate Democrats thanks to BS's constant attacks on Democrats.

2. BS is no longer going to get the benefit of the doubt. Back in 2016, with the decades of attacks on Hillary, I think many Democrats were willing to give BS the benefit of the doubt when it came to his continued efforts to trash Hillary. Folks were inclined to blame Hillary, rather than BS for his negative attacks. This time around, we have seen BS launch the same characters on everyone, even former proteges and allies like Beto O'Rourke and Elizabeth Warren. Now, we know is it not his opponent, it is BS and his dirty style of campaigning by elevating himself by trashing Democrats. Democrats are not going to fall for the BS character attacks again.

3. Trying to cater to BS's calls for revolution will alienate the folks who are drawn to Biden in the first place. BS's populist campaign that is heavily centered on attacking the media and the Democratic "establishment" mirrors Trump's campaign themes. Now, with Trump as President, the last thing we want to do is try to cater to a candidate who is narcissistic, who claims credit, but refuses to take responsibility, who repeatedly lies and denigrates opponents, and who is thin skinned when it comes to criticism by the media. Again, it is not about ideology. Never Trumper David Brooks wrote earlier that he would even be willing to vote for Elizabeth Warren even though he disagreed with most of her platform. A few weeks later, he drew the line at voting for BS citing BS's similarities to Trump. In other words, there is a reason why Biden destroyed Bernie in places like Florida and Michigan.

4. Biden should not reward folks who try to destroy the Democratic party. Sadly, BS is taking the lesson of 2016 as a reason to continue to try to hold the Democratic nomination process hostage. Like Trump who got more attention the more racist he acted, BS learned that he would get more attention the more unreasonable and destructive he acted. If Biden and other Democrats cave into Bernie's wishes again, they will simply encourage BS and others to emulate BS's destructive tactics. Biden should definitely give preference to those former opponents who supported him and the Democratic party, and ignore political arsonists like BS, particularly since BS has already demonstrated that his campaign will continue to work against Democrats regardless of how much you try to cater to BS. So, we need to stop creating incentives for folks to try to hijack the primaries and make it all about them.

In short, BS's campaign continues to try to make the entire election about BS and catering to BS's whims. We are in the midst of a global pandemic that requires experienced leadership. We do not need to bow to the whims of a politician who sees every crisis as an opportunity to elevate themselves and trash the contributions of Democrats fighting for the American people.