Opinion | 2024 will help Americans know if this is who we are - The Washington Post
By: Washington Post
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
“This is not who we are.”
How many times have we heard these six words in the Trump era?
Joe Biden has used them often to describe the former president’s harshest policies at the U.S.-Mexico border , as well as after the deadly 2017 white-supremacist march in Charlottesville he says was the “epiphany” that made him decide to run for president, and again in speeches he has given about our damaged democracy .
We’ve heard the same words from Republicans who refuse to stand up against the MAGA movement and then try to distance themselves from its predictable consequences. Such as Kevin McCarthy, who, as Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 , 2021, told CBS News : “What we’re currently watching unfold is un-American. I’m disappointed, I’m sad, this is not what our country should look like. This is not who we are.”
McCarthy, who was then House minority leader, soon showed who he was. Just two weeks after declaring that Trump “bears responsibility” for the riot, he made a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring, asking absolution for telling the truth in public.
So “this is not who we are” can be an affirmation, a reprimand, an inoculation. What is worth questioning is whether those words are now the truth about Americans, or ever were.
An answer will come in November. No election in memory will have provided such a clear delineation of what American values really are.
In 2016, it was still possible to believe that Trump would grow and change under the weightiness of the office. For all his flagrancy as an entertainer, he was also a businessman and dealmaker; surely, even some of his adversaries assumed, those were skills he could bring to bear in Washington.
Within four years, most voters knew differently.
In a resounding rejection of his agenda, they trounced congressional Republicans in the 2018 midterms. Yet with Trump himself back on the ballot two years later, the outcome was far closer . Though Trump lost the popular vote both times he ran, in 2020 he increased his totals , in the number and the share he received. Were it not for about 45,000 voters in Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin , he would still be president.
If he wins in 2024 — and current polls suggest that is entirely possible, maybe likely — Trump has already made it clear that he plans to govern as an authoritarian, even a dictator . He continues to tell lies about his 2020 loss and has promised “full pardons with an apology to many” of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. He uses language that historians say echoes that of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, calling those who oppose him “vermin” and claiming immigrants who illegally enter the country are “poisoning the blood” of America. He has been indicted on 91 criminal charges.
What’s more disturbing is how many of our fellow citizens say that all of this actually makes them yearn for a Trump Restoration. A recent Des Moines Register-NBC News poll of likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers found, for instance, that more than 4 in 10 said the comment about “poisoning the blood” makes them more likely to support Trump.
Also discouraging is the possibility that, with voters unenamored of the fact that their likely choice is between the previous president and the current one, they might not show up to the polls at all.
Elections should be — and often have been — clarifying.
In 1964, when the radical right John Birch Society was near the peak of its influence , renowned journalist Martha Gellhorn, who had launched her career covering the Spanish Civil War three decades earlier, wrote a friend : “Unless there’s a Johnson landslide, the country and world will know how many incipient and energetic home-grown Fascists we have. I never for a moment feared Communism in the US but have always feared Fascism; it’s a real American trait.”
That year’s GOP nominee, Barry Goldwater, did a delicate dance, as many Republicans do today, trying to distance himself from the extremists without alienating them. Voters weren’t having it. Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Goldwater, as Gellhorn had hoped, in one of the biggest landslides in U.S. history.
No such purgative outcome appears possible in today’s closely divided country, however. In 2012, amid the rise of the tea party, President Barack Obama promised that if he were reelected, it would “break the fever” of political dysfunction that had overtaken Washington.
Obama won, but the virus had taken hold. And in 2015, a new variant emerged off an escalator in Trump Tower.
If Americans, knowing everything they now know about him, reelect Trump — or come close to doing so — it will be time for us all to quit lying to ourselves.
This is who we are.
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The final battle .
You're much more optimistic than I am. It will be the "final battle" only after sanity reigns supreme in our government and MAGA is just an embarrassing memory to the republican party. There are currently too many wanting to walk in Trump's footsteps and idolize international dictators.
My comment was a reference to Donald Trump , who has told his followers that the 2024 election will be "the final battle". He might be right though if we lose it. America will never be the same. At least it would take decades to return to a better place.
You are correct.
What do you call the hyperbolic the US will over as a Democracy if Trump wins articles and comments coming from the left?
The US is still standing after the 2016 election.
It is still standing after the 2020 election.
If is still standing after the eight years and counting of shit the Democrats have put this country through trying to maintain power.
It will still be standing after the 2024 election even if Trump wins; and the Democrats put the country through another 4 years of TDS driven hell.
Barely, and the exiting POTUS went to extremes trying to prevent democracy from winning out after he refused a peaceful transfer of power.
Projection....
Trump learned after 2020 where he needs to station his lackeys to prevent his loss of power next time. The twice impeached and multiple indicted former POTUS has shown and told what to expect if he wins again. He has stated himself that he intends to be a dictator and not follow the Constitution.
Wow.
Trump really has some people scared shitless.
Pitiful.
It would be funny to watch the pivot if Trump dropped out. We would see folks go from Trump is a danger to democracy to MAGA is a danger to democracy to Republicans are a danger to democracy to anyone that does not proclaim fealty to all things the wackadoodle left wants is a danger to democracy.
Not even close to being true but it is good for fear mongering.
“It would be funny to watch the pivot if Trump dropped out. We would see folks go from Trump is a danger to democracy to MAGA is a danger to democracy to Republicans are a danger to democracy..:”
Not funny at all. And all you said is sadly true.
It is not trump per se, as he is so easily dismissible. More frightening, it is the dark underbelly of fear and ignorance which had lingered in the shadows. He tapped into it and made it inexplicably acceptable, but thankfully addressable.
And it is an existential threat.
No, it IS funny to see the greatest threat to democracy ever being replaced so easily!
the fear and ignorance seems to emanate from the left.
Biden and his minions are trying to tap into those unfounded fears every time he says MAGA is a threat to democracy. I guess some folks are drinking the Kool-Aid.
Why do you think they are exclusionary to each other? Trump is MAGA, MAGA is Trump. Whether it is Trump himself, or a Trump wannabe, they are both MAGA.
If Trump wins the nomination and loses the election. what do Chicken Littles think he's going to do??
If both Trump and Biden are the nominees, how low will voter turnout end up? I can't see either one of them garnering a large turnout.
Good point. If those two are the choices I will vote, I just might not be able to pull the lever for either one of them.
Judging by the last time those 2 were the nominees, turnout will be HUGE!!! Unless you want to argue against historical facts.
That was then, this is now. Like a mutual fund "past performance is not a guarantee of future results". Joe won because he is not Trump. Now it will be 4 years of Joes policies vs Trump with extra baggage.
It will be harder for folks to ignore Biden's ineptness as President compared to his less than stellar record as Senator.
Turnout was huge then, not sure it will be this time around. First off Trump has all his warts in public with his actions since he lost the election. Secondly Biden now has a record in the Oval Office and that record is not a good one for the majority of the people in the country as his favorable polling shows. I suspect that the total turnout this time around will be rather less than we saw in 2020 as fewer people are willing to support either one.
So you are arguing against historical facts. Okey dokey. It is all conjecture on your part if you ignore the known facts.
Trump has a hell of a lot more than "warts". Warts are benign.
So you are saying you can tell the future based on what happened in the past? Okie Dokie. Who is going to win the superbowl.
I am saying that you can base an educated guess on the future based on historical facts.
Well, based on the historical facts that we know now, it will be one of the teams that made it to the play offs. In a few weeks you'll have additional historical facts that you can reference.
Out of curiosity, since you brought up the superbowl, just how the hell do you think Vegas gets their odds? Could it possibly be based on the historical facts of how the teams have played previously?????
Hardly, I acknowledged that turnout was huge the last time and I explained why I think it may not be so large this time.
Seeing how conjecture is just a conclusion deduced by surmise or guesswork and you are predicting a future event, we can say that it's all conjecture on your part also. Welcome to the club. You might not want to cling to that historical fact as a good predictor for future events however seeing how we're talking about the voting American public.
And there it is. Because in your opinion I didn't use an expression harsh enough against Trump you feel fit to call me out on it. Next you'll accuse me of defending Trump because I wasn't harsh enough. Why don't you put the tar and feathers down and join the conversation instead.
Except mine is based on the historical fact of a HUGE turn out last time Biden and Trump were the nominees. Yours is most likely based on the latest Russian propaganda with no facts to support it. If you wish to dispute me, please list the historical evidence (or any evidence) you have that supports your claim.
Yeah yeah... you have your guess and I have mine. We'll see in November what the result is. I did explain that my guess was my opinion as to why I think the turnout will be lower in November than the last time if the same two idiots are the nominees. And you want to look to the past for your guess.
Will still cost each of us a couple of dollars for a cup of coffee.
Trump has a hell of a lot more than "warts".
Having one's warts out in public is just an expression, but you keep beating that drum. Maybe it helps you sleep at night, but whatever.
Mine is more than a guess, it is supported by historical facts, something you refuse to acknowledge. But thank you for admitting yours is nothing but a "guess".
Bullshit. Go back and read the very first sentence from post 3.2.3. I acknowledged that turnout was very high in 2020, seems very clear that I acknowledged that historical fact. Now you're just throwing out bullshit. Have a nice day.
LOL.
Go reread our comment thread. I never disputed that you knew the turnout was high. The dispute was that you did not accept that the historical fact of the high turnout made my statement more than a guess.
a guess is a guess no matter the fancy words
"Voter frustration could be key to turnout in 2024, experts say"
Former President Trump and President Biden appear to be headed toward a rematch, despite polls showing many voters are not satisfied with the current options for president.
Experts said this could create a political environment in which more voters decide to sit out next November than in past recent elections. They said turnout could also be uplifted through building intense opposition to the other party’s candidate.
"Less than half of young Americans plan to vote in 2024, Harvard poll finds". Of course the poll might have been plagiarized.
"Some top Democrats are worried that a dip in Black voter turnout..."
Nope, not at all. The dispute is that you seem to think that because voter turnout was so high in 2020 that if the same two are the primary on the ballot for the general election the same high voter turnout will occur. I explained why I thought that was wrong. There are all sorts of polling available to show that many of the people who voted for Trump or Biden in 2020 are not going to vote for them again, that they do not support either one of them.
You made your guess, I made mine. But you are trying to spin your guess as more factual based solely on one incident in the past. In my experience, one incident does not make for a trend.
Are you unable to read your own comments????
I said that because the turnout was so high in 2020, there is no reason to think that it wouldn't be the same in 2024, as a response to your claim that there will be a low turn out. You are doing your damndest to change your statement and my response to your statement.
Your claim is what needs evidence and my pointing out historical facts to disprove your claim is what this thread is all about.
Only if we have a Covid type happening which will trigger states to overrule their actual voting laws and ease restrictions on mail in and absentee voting. There is some historic facts for you.
A fact that has nothing to do with what has ben discussed.
You are saying that making voting easier increases voter turn-out. Well then lets keep that going since the more US citizens that vote, the better the democracy is........Right? Shouldn't we be encouraging higher voter turn-out?
What a bunch of revisionist tripe. The 2016 election already told us who we are. We are a nation of back-biting, dirty politicians who will do anything to obtain power. And those politicians pursue that power for their own self serving interest; not for the good of the county.
That's why Hillary Clinton ran. That's why Donald Trump ran. That's why Joe Biden ran. They're all back-biting, dirty politicians. That's who we really are.
It's the most important election EvER!!!!!
The same story has been run every election this century with minor edits for names and dates.
Imagine anyone believing this is a country defining election supporting Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination, a corrupt old man who spends his Presidency napping and having his staff correct all of his very few public utterances. If this election mattered more than any other one, they'd be uniting behind a mentally fit candidate.
Imagine someone who echoes Hitler rhetoric and calls his opponents vermin being the candidate for a major US political party.
Not only can some imagine it, it is the fulfillment of their dreams.