It has been nearly five months now since I published my open letter to Democratic candidates and organizations. Since then I have, unsurprisingly, received dozens of texts and emails asking me to "Donate $5 now!" For a while I responded to every one pointing them to my Open Letter and asking them to read it. I was expecting (hoping for?) one of three responses. 1) "You are absolutely right, we need some new ideas, and we have some! Here is a pointer to our web page where we describe them..." 2) "We recognize the need for new ideas, but we don't have any of our own. Do you?" Or 3) We think you're wrong that new ideas are needed, and here is why.
The response I have actually received so far has been mostly crickets. I'm disappointed, but not because of the lack of response to me specifically. This is not really about me. I have in the past written some pretty substantial checks, but I'm still a pretty small fish in the donor pond. No, I'm disappointed because if anyone had some new ideas it would take no additional effort to tell me about them. Worse, if anyone thought new ideas were needed but didn't have any (and couldn't find any) of their own, it would take zero effort to ask me if I had any.
I can't say the same thing about the third response. It would take quite a bit to persuade me that no new ideas are needed. In fact, if someone managed to persuade me of this I would rate it a minor miracle. But here's the thing: I am not alone in thinking that business-as-usual won't cut it any more. I would think it would be worth someone's while to formulate an argument to persuade all of us. But as far as I can tell, no one has.
In fact, as far as I can tell, the entire message of the Democratic party at this point is: "Trump is horrible, so write us checks." It's very reminiscent of the MAGA pitch: Biden is horrible, so write Trump checks. Except that Trump actually had new ideas. They were bad ideas (understatement of the day) but at least they were different ideas. It was a sufficiently attractive pitch to win a free and fair election. This is something that I don't see a lot of Democrats acknowledging: Donald Trump did not win because of shenanigans, and he did not win because of the electoral college. He won because, given the choices they were given, the American People voted for him.
As far as I can tell, the vast majority of the Democratic establishment is operating on the idea that not only are new ideas not needed, but that it is so self-evident that no new ideas are needed that this proposition requires no defense. I can see no other explanation for the lack of both new ideas and a defense of their absence. How any Democrat can sustain this belief in light of the events of the last eight years is beyond me, and I am a person who has managed in the past to find common ground with young-earth creationists. The fact that I can no longer build a mental model of Democrats, who really ought to be my tribe, is distressing.
Yesterday I watched George Clooney play Edward R. Murrow in the Broadway production of Good Night and Good Luck. It's a hopeful reminder that the country has been in dark places before and managed to find its way back to the light. The difference this time is that the people who should be guiding us out of the darkness seem to be rudderless. The main message I see coming out of the Democratic party is a seething hatred of Donald Trump. I sympathize. But if history has taught us anything it is that building a political movement on a foundation of hatred is a really bad idea.
