November 11, 2020
President-elect Joe Biden probably scored a few debating points with voters when he said, bluntly, to the 45th president: “Will you shut up already?”
Now the question has become: Will he concede already?
But Trump is defying tradition and insisting, over appeals from some of his advisors and family members and with zero proof, that the election is being stolen from him. A captive Republican Party, with a few notable exceptions, has so far allowed him to do so. Whether the right wing — after more days of posturing and tantrums and baseless legal threats — accepts defeat remains to be seen.
Until then Trump might try extra-legal means to stay in office, like a coup attempt.
Right now large masses of oppressed workers and anti-racist white workers are celebrating their electoral win over the bigot-in-chief. It’s like his knee has been lifted off their collective necks, bringing tears of relief. The news of Biden’s win was met with horn honking, street dancing and champagne toasts.
A mass get-out-the-vote mobilization overcame Trump’s crass appeals to the basest racist prejudices. The vote of long-disenfranchised Black and brown communities drove the much-needed nails into the coffin of Trump’s poisonous rule.
Now how much of a struggle will it take to force out the defeated president? General strikes, continued mass demonstrations, direct action and more have been discussed, which is a healthy step forward in the struggle.
But donor lists expose that a big section of the capitalist class prefers a stable, centrist Biden over Trump’s erratic extremism.
Unfolding events will reveal more.
Dems bait progressive wing
If a smooth transition to a Biden presidency is the best case scenario for workers and oppressed people, it leaves a lot to be desired.
Once elections are out of the way, capitalist politicians usually commence a wide range of nefarious bipartisan acts, from sanctions and war to expanding the prison-industrial complex. The exploitation of labor by capital goes on regardless of who controls the branches of government, despite all the blather about compassion, empathy and the sanctity of democracy.
Since this election, mainstream Democrats have wasted no time in denouncing the party’s “progressive” wing, blaming key losses in the House and Senate on candidates who raised “Medicare for All,” “Defund the Police,” and a “Green New Deal.”
A lot of their ire is directed at the four women of color known as ‘The Squad,’ even though Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and Rashida Tlaib easily won reelection to Congress.
Ocasio-Cortez pointed out in a post-election interview: “Every single candidate that co-sponsored Medicare for All in a swing district kept their seat.”
When the interviewer asked, “What if the administration is hostile? If they take the [former Republican governor of Ohio] John Kasich view of who Joe Biden should be?” Ocasio-Cortez replied, “It’s going to be really hard after immigrant youth activists helped potentially deliver Arizona and Nevada. It’s going to be really hard after Detroit and Rashida Tlaib ran up the numbers in her district.
Arguing “electability,” the Biden win is being used to counter progressives. The New York Times cites examples where voters picked Biden but voted for Republicans in Senate and House races. But the flip side is that many reluctantly voted for Biden to get rid of Trump but skipped over the rest of the ballot because they didn’t see much difference between the candidates.
Socialist-baiting is not the sole province of the Republicans. “We need to not ever use the words ‘socialist’ or ‘socialism’ ever again,” Virginia’s Democratic Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger stated. Biden repeatedly bragged that he “beat the socialist” — a reference to Bernie Sanders. (wjla.com)
In fact, the only meaningful message to workers worried about their future is a real socialist program. Reforms under the capitalist system of exploitation go only so far. Any serious threat to Wall Street’s bottom line will face a right-wing backlash — and a Biden administration won’t offer up a serious challenge.
Stay in the streets — and not just to dance.
Keep your marching shoes nearby.
