The blue wave, while a rebuke of Trump’s policies, was also a referendum on the party’s status quo

The victories were a clear rebuke of Trump’s politics, but also a referendum on the Democratic party’s own centrism that is complicit in the violence of masked men hunting immigrants, the funding of a genocide and the denial of healthcare to citizens of the world’s wealthiest country.

…Hakeem Jeffries, who is running for speaker of the House, will not commit to holding a vote on abolishing ICE. He opposes Medicare for All. He has said he will not hold Trump accountable for the human rights violations committed, portraying it as a question of “getting even” rather than achieving justice where it was denied. Chuck Schumer, who holds similar positions, has an extraordinarily low approval rating – yet plans to run for majority leader in the Senate. Electeds are questioning whether these men should hold these roles.

But the dissent must also come from us, as it has been. We need to demand an end to the fast violence of guns on our streets trained on our neighbors, bombs dropped from the sky and the slow violence of people dying because their healthcare was denied or their food stamps were cut.

We need to organize, and mobilize, to demand the multi-racial democracy we were promised – not a playground for the rich to get richer on the time and labor and lives of the poor.

  • Cherries@lemmy.world
    6·
    7 hours ago

    Haley Steven’s was the Centrist pick. She was the preferred candidate of Chuck Schumer. All those insanely Islamophobic attacks launched against Abdul during the general were given legitimacy because they were Dem party attacks in the primary. In fact, they were agreeing that Abdul was saying some dangerously radical things and he needed to moderate his position in order to win. The Dem leadership threw their weight behind Haley Steven’s in the primary and when she lost, they waited a long, long time to begrudgingly support Abdul only when it was clear he had enough popular support to win.

    While it is good that Kamala Harris and Barack Obama eventually supported Abdul, it was clear they hopped on the bandwagon only after checking where the wind was blowing. They did not support him out of party loyalty or because they align with his political views; they supported him when it was clear they would benefit politically from doing so. Up until that point, they were perfectly content to wait in the background as Abdul suffered from the most blatant racist attacks ever launched against a political candidate since their own campaigns. If you recall, Abdul spoke with Obama shortly after winning the primary and asked Obama to campaign and support him. Seemingly, Obama declined since Abdul told the press, “I really hope he campaigns with me.”

    In case you need it spelled out:

    Dem party launches racist attacks in primary. MAGA uses those racist attack in the general. Centrist Dems offer legitimacy to the racism by saying, “Yeah MAGA has some good points. This guy is kinda problematic.” Abdul’s movement becomes undeniably popular. Some Centrists hop on the bandwagon. Haley Stevens nukes her career in the 11th hour. The rest of the Dem party is forced to endorse Abdul.