Biden will win, and there’s nothing Republicans can do about it, James Carville says.
Carville is the savvy Democratic political consultant who helped Bill Clinton win the 1992 election.
He acknowledges “the Democrats are a party ridden with crushing anxiety and self-doubt,” but argues 2020 is different from 2016, when Trump won the Electoral College “by a freakish fraction of votes spread across three states” where Democrats have since won governor’s races, in addition to retaking the House of Representatives in 2018’s “blue wave” election. Now, he says,
“I predict we will see a majority unite against him in a way not seen since Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential election. I have never been more certain of something in my life. So, quell your fears, bed-wetting Democrats: 2016 is not 2020. … This is the most consistent race I’ve seen …. The Republicans know they are facing a resounding defeat … they have tried to cheat at every turn. But if the polls hold, even with all their corruption and conniving, there is nothing that the Pennsylvania state Legislature, Wisconsin Supreme Court, or … Amy Coney Barrett will be able to do about it.”
This crop of Republicans, the Trump sycophants, should be defeated and driven out of public life for good. They’re bad for the country and a majority of Americans. Voting for them defies common sense. But people aren’t always rational, and politics seldom is. And America isn’t a true democracy; it’s possible for an extremist minority faction like today’s GOP to dominate our government by gaming the system. That’s why Democrats are nervous. Carville is asking them to look past that. His pitch:
“[T]his election is not just about defeating Trump. We also need to think about what comes next … we’re going to see a welcome unification of groups once thought to be separate: young liberals, veterans, suburban women, voters of color and seniors who witnessed the darkest flashpoints of our country’s history. … Quite honestly, it’s unlikely we keep retired military generals and urban teenagers in the same coalition forever. But from this moment of national peril, we can hope to repair the foundations of our government and push our country forward with giant bounds of progress.
“So, in these final weeks before the election, second-guessing Democrats need to stop chasing the tails of the daily news cycle. I’ve spent a lifetime in politics, I’ve seen a lot of elections, and have had my fair share of sleepless nights. But this race is different. Stay energized, shake off the 2016 PTSD, sleep well. It’s time to think bigger. This November, we have a chance to not just win, but win in such a way that we will be able to change the trajectory of America — for the better.”
Read his complete commentary here. It’s partisan, of course — Carville is a Democrat who couches his arguments in partisan language — and conservative readers probably wouldn’t find it to their liking. But I don’t think even they can plausibly argue the last four years have made America “better.” White cops murdering black people, Karens coming out of the woodwork, neo-Nazis parading, militias and vigilantes with guns taking to the streets and invading state capitols, a raging pandemic, a collapsing economy, the shredding of our foreign alliances and coddling of our adversaries — none of that is for the better.
We can disagree about what “better” is. I think balancing the economy’s needs with protecting the environment is better; apart from aesthetic considerations, no species ever survived by fouling its nest. You are not better off drinking foul water or breathing dirty air; the need for regulating polluting industries is manifest. Climate change is real, and if we can do anything to mitigate it, we should. Green energy technologies offer such an opportunity, and we should pursue it. The economy itself needs to be regulated, and given a booster charge from time to time, or it will crash and burn. History has shown that time and again. People who believe in freedom don’t try to impose the dictates of their personal religious beliefs on others, nor do they turn police violence loose on peaceful protesters; above all, they don’t seek to create a dictatorship of the minority over the majority, the threat posed by Trump and his Republican Party.
If you don’t think the president should be whoever wins the most votes, then don’t say you’re for “liberty” or “freedom.” Democracy, freedom, and personal liberty go hand-in-hand. Since the revolution and independence, Americans have placed their faith in the idea that democratic principles are the best guarantor of personal freedoms, and that government power belongs to the people. Lincoln spoke of government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Minority rule doesn’t fit that description.
If Biden wins the popular vote in enough states to amass a majority of electoral votes, it’s un-American to suggest that gerrymandered state legislatures or five or six justices on the Supreme Court should overturn that result. Carville doesn’t think they can. I’m worried they’re going to try. That’s why voters need to turn out in overwhelming numbers, braving whatever obstacles and intimidation are thrown in their way, to give Biden an unassailable victory.
We’re not voting for Biden expecting he’ll be a Lincoln or FDR. He’s an alternative to Trumpism, which is built on a foundation of lies, ignorance, and racism. He’s a functioning adult, a moderate, who believes in democracy and will protect the rule of law. In the circumstances, that’s more than enough.