Successful electoral politics in the United States is ultimately about setting up successful dichotomies. There is you and your opponent and more people are like you. This is what all the “woke” nonsense is all about. The GOP realize they are on the wrong side of almost all of these issues. They are on the wrong side demographically and on just about every major domestic and foreign policy issue. The only way forward for them is to paint the left is somehow extreme and that they really are the “silent majority.”
If that phrase seems familiar to you it should. It has been a part of the conservative blueprint for more than half a century. It’s time to throw that whole sentiment on it’s ear. The basic campaign that Joe Biden needs to run is a run on basic decency. While certainly not a perfect man and not the ideal standard bearer for liberals, progressives, and leftists, Biden is easily the most decent person on the ballot. That is particularly true when compared with the entire GOP field.
A series of stories circulated this week that drive this point home. The first on my radar was the story of an assistant principal that was kicked so many times that she ended up having seizures and had to be hospitalized. The second involved a man that killed all of his neighbors after they complained about the loud gunfire at his house. The third story involved a man that shot a parking attendant over 40 dollars and then returned to the restaurant and completed his date.
I witnessed a hit and run on the way back home from a trip this past weekend. A truck had to stop suddenly because of traffic. He simply had to get somewhere quickly, so he quickly changed lanes and just shoved an SUV over so he could occupy the lane. He didn’t stop. He just kept going. These are four stories in the span of a week. Pick any seven day time span at any point on the calendar and you can either read or watch these stories unfold in fairly similar fashion.
Two of these stories involved guns. Two of them didn’t. Some involved young people and some didn’t. Some involved people of color and some didn’t. I point out that all of them involved men, but I don’t know if that is a relevant factor here. I wish I could say that all of them involved conservatives but that would be a stretch and would be irresponsible. What I can say is that they involved four different sets of people that were not decent people. Decent people do decent things. Indecent people do indecent things.
I can comfortably say that I’ve never done any of these things. I don’t see me kicking someone while they are lying helpless on the ground. I don’t own a gun, so the two gun stories are out for me. I’ve had accidents, but I’ve never fled from them. I would reasonably expect that most of you are with me here on those counts. I know some of you own guns, but I doubt you’ve shot anyone on a first date. I would guess that the vast majority of Americans are in the same boat. The MAGA crowd applaud these people. They are those people. Whether they would do it themselves or not is immaterial. They represent the indecency that has become MAGA. It’s time for the silent majority to vote out indecency.
