Bitter campaign ends tomorrow—political struggle will continue on

 By SJ Otto

Tomorrow will be the last of a campaign that has lasted way too long already.

People are calling this election (2020) to be one of the most important elections of modern times. Some say it is the most importantelection in this country ever. There have been others similar to it. But I can’t remember when such a mean-spirited, brutish thug was sitting in the White house. Tomorrow will either make or break this country.

For a lot of people, especially those in the lower income bracket, this election will decide if they have a chance at getting health care. I can’t remember a time in my life where politicians and many voters were so hostile toward people who simply don’t make much income. Being poor in America today is a crime. And despite all the hostility, we have a Senate and the Republican Party that refuses to allow the minimum wage to increase.

I will go on to predict that this election will be the beginning of a long political struggle and not the end of it. Our two candidates represent two solid political currents in the US. Donald Trump represents the far right political agenda of the Republican Party. This agenda is way past what the Republicans wanted in the past. Every four years Republicans looked for new ways to attack the left and people who are not at the top of the economic ladder.

Then there is Joe Biden. He beat out Bernie Sanders to pursue a centrist agenda, one that refuses to really change much of anything. As with the over all Democratic Party the idea has been to run campaigns that offer little if any change and a promise not to change very much of the status quo.

In the past Republicans often opposed progressive change, but did not insist on their own change. They were often content to preserve the status quo. Today the entire Republican Party seems intent on pushing a massive privatization agenda. This agenda includes rolling back all kinds of political norms. They want to end Abortion in the US once and for all. They oppose any changes to the US medical system, which depends on the use of insurance companies and big pharma. All attempts to change that system are opposed at all times.

I really think the centrist Democrats are reaching their historical finish. With the election and success of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and her squad, we may see more and more democratic socialist and progressives get elected in the near future. As people realize the advantages of left political positions, we may see people get tire of the old dragged out centrist positions. 

On Foreign policy Biden and his centrists fully support a Republican style imperialist foreign policy of total US control of all countries in the world. The majority of the Democratic Party fully supports this policy. It is one of the few issues that both Republicans and Democrats fully agree on.

Much of the Republican agenda is du to the Tea Party, a few years ago. The movement captured the Republican Party and ran off a lot of the moderates.

Now the opposite may be happening in the Democratic Party.

Democratic Socialists of America have won some seats in the New York area and they are allied with some progressive politicians.

I have noticed a lot of progressive Democrats running here in Sedgwick County and in parts of Kansas. Laura Lombard is running in the 4th district in the US House of Representatives and Sarah Lopez is running for the Sedgwick County Commission, to name a few. We are having more and more progressive candidates running for office here in Kansas. We all need to get out and vote tomorrow. We may not win anything, but we should at least try to improve the political landscape here in Kansas and across the US.

 

Pix from CafePress Anti-Republican Yard Sign