December 17, 2017--Fuddy-Duddies

At lunch the other day I was surprised to note, after the election in Alabama, that though I was by far the oldest at the table, I was the only one feeling optimistic.

"How can you be that way?" Henry said, sounding exasperated. "For sure, there were the surprising results in Alabama, but Trump still controls the agenda and no matter what happens he manages to survive."

"Don't be too casual about the election results. For a very pro-abortion Democrat to win a seat in the Senate is astonishing. Alabama is about the redest state in America. And though I agree with you guys that Trump is still president and controls the narrative, this weakens him."

"You're telling me that the person who controls the nuclear codes is weak?"

"Not weak, weakened. I agree there is little likelihood he'll be impeached much less convicted in the Senate. And of course as commander in chief he has awesome power. Scary power. But I'm talking about him being weakened politically. Among voters--even some of his supporters who are beginning to abandon him, at least in private, and the Republican Party--and especially among Republicans in Congress. I feel certain that there is virtually no loyalty to him. In fact, they hate him. The contempt he has shown them. The way he mocks them. Drain the swamp. Tutored and manipulated by Steve Bannon, who wants to see everyone thrown out of office. He wants to bring them down. All politicians and officeholders. Being involved with Trump is to be slimed. Look for more and more to distance themselves. Especially as 2018 approaches and being associated with him makes them all vulnerable to losing their seats in Congress."

I pushed my dim sum dumplings around with my chopsticks.

"But look at all the terrible things he's done," Matthew said, "To the environment, our allies, civility, to cutting taxes for the rich and big corporations. You're feel optimistic about that?"

"Not about that, of course. I hate all those things too. But, again, since he will serve until 2020, a weak Trump is an improvement over an empowered one. That is a reason to feel guardedly optimistic. Also, I prefer a weakened Trump to a President Pence, who might be able to get Congress to do a lot of even more awful things."

Ellie said, "Then how do you explain the apparent passage of regressive, so-called tax reform? This from a weak Trump?"

"Fair point. I'm not saying he'll be powerless, especially in regard to the few things Republican politicians are obsessed about. Cutting taxes for wealthy people and big corporations more than anything else. But, with the victories in Virginia in November and Alabama last week, people who oppose Trump must be thinking--'We can do this! We can make things happen! We can win! Getting off our behinds and becoming activated can bring about success."

" I worry," Henry said, "That people will declare victory and check out."

"Not in my view," I said, "Nothing breeds success like success. Just think about how empowered African Americans must be feeling. Being essential to the victory in Alabama, which for them initially must have seemed hopeless. When was the last time black people had someone they supported in the South elected to statewide office?"

"Could be," Ellie said, "I was struck by the fact that lily-white Doug Jones did better among black voters than even Barack Obama."

"And don't forget that he also did better than expected among white women. Particularly women and young people. That's the traditional Democratic coalition. They are the ones who elected Doug Jones. If  that coalition holds together and we nominate good people, including moderate Democrats in purple districts, next year we can win back control of both houses of Congress."

"What about the 2020 presidential election?" Matthew said. "That's the ballgame as far as I'm concerned."

"Again," I said, "I'm optimistic that we can win then too. As long as we don't nominate someone like Elizabeth Warren. As good as she is as a Senator and advocate, I don't think America is ready for an ultra-liberal president who was a female Harvard professor."

Everyone stared at me. "Come on guys. You're acting like a bunch of old fuddy-duddies. Eat your soy sauce noodles."

November 29, 2017--Alabama On My Mind

Not long after Donald Trump announced he was running for president, still in Delray Beach, we ran into a neighbor who, without a proper hello, whispered to us, "Don't repeat this, but I'm voting for him."

By then we knew who the him was.

If she had been polled, not telling the truth, she would likely have said she was undecided or that, as a lifelong Democrat, she planned to vote for Hillary.

But when election day came she voted for him, he carried Florida easily, and we know the final dispensation.

I suspect something like this is going on in Alabama as they are within two weeks now of voting for someone to replace Jeff Sessions in the Senate.

A large percentage say they can't vote for Roy Moore and for the first time in their lives plan to vote for Doug Jones, the Democrat. Many of them are not telling the truth. Even in some Alabama circles it is not socially acceptable to openly say you will be voting for a pedophile.

Perhaps an equal number are saying to pollsters that they plan to vote for Moore, in spite of everything, because they can't handle the thought that someone who supports a woman's right to have an abortion might be elected. In the privacy of the voting booth, though, resisting local social pressure, hating the idea that he seduced adolescents, they will in fact vote for Jones.

At the moment, Moore has been gaining in the polls, whatever they're worth, and it looks like a statistical dead heat.

Once again, as in Virginia, women will determine the outcome. Either by voting or opting not to.

*    *    *

On Morning Joe the other day, they got into an heretical discussion--how for Democrats to regain control of Congress and the White House, they have to welcome into the party and appeal to at least some social conservatives. This may mean that they need to open their tent wide enough to include Second Amendment people, religious voters, and even those who believe that there should be some limitations on the right to end a pregnancy. Like, for example, believing that abortions after 20 weeks of gestation should not be permitted. 

Someone on the show mentioned that Nancy Pelosi said Democrats should welcome right-to-life people. "We want to win," she said. And to win seats in most southern states Democrats must nominate and support cultural conservatives who are not strong supporters of abortion but who believe in and will, for example, vote for other Democratic priorities like preserving the social safety net and protecting the environment and voting rights.

*    *   *

This led to a complicated discussion between Rona and me sparked by this and our seeing Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, where Frances McDermand relentlessly and even violently seeks justice for her raped and murdered daughter.

Neither of us really liked to movie but it did get us talking about issues of concern particularly to women. Especially abortion rights.

"Why is this such a passionate, non-negotiable subject?" I asked. "I support that right and personally do not see it appropriate or perhaps constitutional to restrict it in any significant way."

"Because it's the one issue," Rona said, "that should be totally in the hands of women to decide. My body, myself. All other political and social issues are not as gendered. This is a women's issue. So to limit it, to take it away from the control of women, is to limit women's autonomy in ways that many, most women find to be totally unacceptable."

"Are you saying, then, that this is more about WOMEN'S RIGHTS and efficacy writ large than just abortion?"

"Yes. In itself, again for most women--not all by far--it's both a pressing reality and a metaphor for a range of cultural issues. We feel that though this is our issue, at the same time some of us, including some who are very liberal in regard to other matters, because we want to win, may opt tactically to agree to some compromises. But than again, because it's so important to some, any compromise might be impossible to consider, much less embrace."

"The other day you said, and I feel this sums up some of the complications, that the choice in Alabama to some, perhaps to many, is between a pedophile (Moore) and a baby killer (Jones). That that's the way a lot of religious conservatives view the choice."

"I still believe that," Rona said, "This is about as contested and complicated as it gets. Assuming one is able to calm down enough about the subject and attempt to look at it from multiple perspectives. Because to win we first need to understand."