The mainstream media now has access to the “exit polls” from the election, and they are all convinced that more than half of the nation embraced an orange sociopath because they are unhappy with the price of a Big Mac.
From my perspective, however, exit polls can’t reveal what the voter doesn’t know about himself. Misogyny and racism are not generally top-of-mind conscious values. They lurk beneath the surface.
Bernie Sanders, following Tuesday’s loss, has criticized the Democratic Party for not reaching out to the working people that once were solidly Democratic. These voters, both men and women, swung to Trump.
I agree with Bernie. Kamala should have talked about a $15 minimum wage and benefits like guaranteed vacation time, available to most workers in Europe. She also should have worked to separate the people of Israel from the actions of their immoral and racist leader, Netanyahu.
Would this have been enough to offset misogyny? Hard to say, when it seems most Americans are more concerned about the price of a groceries than electing a convicted criminal.
So, how would we begin to undo misogyny and racism? I suggest that the Democrats do that by appealing to our higher values, and that might be accomplished through story telling.
Harris focused on women’s health care, but much of that was by blaming Trump and the Supreme Court for the current situation. Why not focus on the suffering of women, and how it was relieved through the efforts of family and friends who cared? As a corollary, can’t we imagine social policies that might make it possible to care for those women? Why couldn’t hospitals and clinics receive financial credit for providing care for out of state patients?
Policies to help the poor and the homeless, whose number are legion, have been ignored by Democrats for a decade or more. The reasoning has been “those Americans don’t vote” – but what about the multitudes of us who volunteer and donate to address this suffering? We vote, we see the pain, and I believe we’d like to see out-of-control military spending reduced enough to feed the hungry.
The clear contrast between Harris and Trump was that Kamala is nice, while the Donald is mean, but I don’t think that’s enough. Why can’t Democrats be the party of compassion?
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Written by Charles L. Baker, MSSW
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