Chris Cillizza says, “the danger for [Joe] Biden in this [presidential] race is clear: He runs the risk of coming off like Don Draper in a Peggy Olson world. And, unfortunately for him, there’s just not much he can do about it.” I think that’s undoubtedly true. If you’re familiar with the show Mad Men, you know what that means, and if you are not I think you can imagine. We’ve reached a moment in this country where women aren’t accepting the old rules and where men are being routinely punished for things that previous generations took for granted.
Yet, I look at the White House and I see Donald Trump in the Oval Office. I can’t concede that we’re living in a Peggy Olson world. Maybe that’s where we’re headed. Maybe we are right on the cusp of that. Maybe the outcome of the 2020 election will decide which kind of country we’re living in.
The way it looks from here, more than a year out from Election Day, there isn’t much doubt which side of that battle will be waged by the Democrats. And this is why the Democratic primaries and caucuses don’t appear to be hospitable territory for older white men who spent most of their political careers in an environment that operated by the old rules.
From this distant vantage point, it’s also not clear that the Democrats will win a battle fought along these lines. An all-out cultural battle about race and gender and human sexuality could really go either way, especially against an incumbent president fighting on the opposing side.
The Democrats seem to want to focus more on kitchen table issues, including especially health care. It’s the Republicans that want to make the election about whether black athletes stand for the national anthem or non-white immigrants are committing heinous crimes. They’re running unapologetically to take away reproductive choice and on divisive issues like transgender bathrooms. They seem to think they can win a cultural battle. They don’t want to fight about health care, as can been seen by the extremely negative reaction from congressional Republicans to the administration’s choice to oppose the Affordable Care Act in court.
In truth, the campaign will be about all of these things and many other topics, too, but it’s not clear to me that the Democrats want the campaign to be primarily about getting a verdict on whether this is a Don Draper or a Peggy Olson world. They might want it to be about a return to sense of normalcy and competency, because they’d almost surely win that battle.
Like every other Democratic aspirant to the White House, Biden has his pros and cons. He has some pretty obvious weaknesses, especially as a candidate for the Democratic nomination. He’s also a great contrast to Trump in almost every respect. It could be that there is one respect in which they are not different enough, but that will be up to Democratic voters to decide.
Since braindead, pro-plutocrat “conservative” policies have all been implemented and (predictably) failed spectacularly during the (almost 40 year) course of the disastrous “Conservative” Era, of course all that our Repubs have left is cultural wars and militarism. Indeed, culture war was the main course offered by National Trumpalism in 2016, and Der Trumper has nowhere else to go at this point. “More reactionary judges!”, I suppose.
It’s perfectly plain that Der Trumper cannot possibly win the popular vote against whatever Dem emerges; indeed, it appears “conservatism” now understands that glorification of the nonsensical electoral college is the foundation of their (openly anti-democratic) movement. America’s white nationalists and “conservatives” ultimately had no choice but to give up on even the semblance of American democracy, and frankly “democracy” is an ideal that no longer comes out of the mouth of a single elected Repub at this stage of our national collapse–unless one of them openly declares that white rural voters SHOULD have a greater voice than, say, San Franciscans. That, however, is a very strange form of “democracy”. In any event, our national government has evolved into democratic illegitimacy, a development that “conservatism” helped to manufacture and can only cheer on and embrace.
So where does a dry, stale political donut from the 1980s(!) figure into all this? Can one imagine the components of the Dem party and progressive movement (in 2020!) really getting excited and igniting behind this tired figure of the faded Reaganian past, who obtained a popularity transfusion solely because of his (almost fortuitous) second-banana association with the charismatic phenom that was Obama? Talk about a lucky fate, one that should counsel resting on one’s laurels and writing memoirs.
Instead, he’s out having to prepare the ground literally everywhere he turns in order to address only the most obvious howling objections ahead of the announcement game. Biden is the first choice of who, exactly? What demo keeps putting him into “front-runner” position? The older white male contingent?
I’d say Biden is the Hillary of 2020, but that’s not really fair to Hillary. But announce away, Joe, the more the merrier, as every candidate keeps saying through clenched teeth…
The reason that he polls ahead of everyone else is that a) he has the most name recognition among the ordinary public and b) because he was Veep for 8 years people are very familiar with his public persona. But beyond that, not many people know where he stands on various issues and, once primary season starts, I would expect him to slide down (assuming he decides to run).
I think that’s a good take by Cilizza. The entire electorate may not be “a Peggy Olson world”, but the Democratic side of it probably already is, and definitely the activist part that’s talking about primaries now.
>>return to sense of normalcy
I hope they’re not using that word and I wish you wouldn’t . Because nothing says 21st century like Joe Biden running on Warren Harding’s platform.
He’s also a great contrast to Trump in almost every respect.
Which ways are those? Just because he has a phony bravado about him? There is a reason he was known as the Senator from MBNA. He’s a war hawk, going by his Senate record. He thinks Mike Pence is an okay guy. I really don’t get where he’s like the anti-Trump.
Joe Biden is too much like somebody who would suggest nominating somebody for his VP without getting their approval first. He’s the same guy overwhelmingly rejected for the Presidency by the Democratic party voters twice, except older. He’s tremendously better than Trump, but far from the best choice for fixing the problems Trump has caused.
If you want kitchen table issues, how about the one candidate who is talking about breaking up agricultural monopolies like you and others have suggested – Elizabeth Warren?
And I love her for it.
To be honest, she won me over a little bit with that one.
It’s a winner.
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What was the message of 2016? DT. And her emails. That was pretty much all the race was about in the two weeks before election day. If not for James Comey and the NY FBI office, we’d be talking about the first woman President and trying desperately to defend her against all the obstruction from Congress. Kennedy would probably still be on the Bench.
After reading your post it makes me think Biden represents the return to normality. He’s about as normal as it gets. Might be the electorate wants normality more than moving forward with change. How in the world can anyone know at this point?
Why are we still paying attention to Chris Cillizza? When was the last time he was right about anything important? Haven’t seen a pundit correctly read the mood of this country in years.
The paradox here is that to get to anything approaching normality in this country will require a wise, courageous and popular leader willing and able to tackle the root problems head on.
We cannot return to life as it was some while back. If we remember aspects of society that were better, we can try to restore them in a healthy society that acknowledges and deals with the problems we face today, and to act for the generations yet to come.
Much as I like AOC, I think she is wrong about this. There’s not going to be a utopia. People will need jobs — good jobs.
I don’t think she is wrong, she just makes it seem easy to overcome….but then she is 28 years old.
Fearing our robotic future is like fearing tidal action…….it’s going to happen, best have a plan.
Those jobs are gone, best have a plan.
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The Dutch feared tidal action. They’ve been implementing a plan for the last several hundred years. Because of that they have a future.
As a matter of fact, with rising sea levels due to climate change, we’d better all start fearing tidal action — and do something about it.
I agree that robotics has some beneficial uses — as, for example, in medicine. But 90% of what’s pushing robotics is rampant hyper-capitalism. Eliminating jobs is very much a feature of this system, not a bug.
In other words, the Dutch had a plan.
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Exactly.
IMO using Peggy Olson is a terrible illustration. She had so little interest in supporting other women and she didnt take the path of credentialing which means she does even less for the majority of women trying to break in who went college. I see her as a Silent Majority or Regan revolution type.
Anyhow about the actual article, the cultural battle was fought in 2016 and lost. Makes sense why GOP wants to try it again. I understand why many democrats want to try it again too.
Here’s a short list of some issues where democrats have the advantage in 2020:
-Health Care
-Foreign Policy
-Education
-Childcare
-Medical Research
-Inequality
-Tax Distribution
-Budget Deficit
-Money in politics
-Corruption
-Climate Change
-Infrastructure
-Immigration
-Net Neutrality
-Any aspect of governance that requires actual policy
Here’s a short list of issues where Republicans have a 50% shot of winning:
-Culture War
Hmm, which one should we run on? I dunno.
Other than budget deficit, I generally like this list. Those are issues that speak to someone like me. I am just old enough to where I know I will probably be around a good while longer, but very painfully aware that more than half my life is behind me. So I think more and more about the US and world that my kids are inheriting as they are entering adulthood. Hence, addressing climate change, inequality (esp. income) and so on become critical to me. Health care is a big deal for obvious reasons. The ACA was a small but important step towards having the sort of healthcare we see in the rest of the civilized world. It is time to finish what was started. Past time, really. Social Security and Medicare are right up there. I’ve paid into those systems and the greedy bastards are prying those benefits I am owed from my cold dead hands – and I’d love to see those benefits made better for future generations.
The culture war stuff I used to consider as some odd artifact of whatever was going on back in the 1960s and 1970s. I was not even born when some of that was starting up. As a Gen X member, the whole culture wars thing seemed self-indulgent and childish back when I was a young adult, and it seems all the more so now.
That’s a long rambling way of saying good post, and one I generally endorse.
Supposedly small government proponents want the Government to somehow stop society from changing…..which is what the `culture wars’ actually are……a `fight’ against social change.
How do you even do that? Take one republican bugaboo……rap music. I guess if republicans had their way they would have banned it from the airwaves? How?
How do you stop something that has an audience?
I’m an old white dude that has lived his whole life in Southern California, and grew up in three notorious sun down towns, and watched the hispanicazation of my chosen industry. The whole culture war thing is supposed to get me to the polls to vote republican. Yet I look around and you know what? Culturally things are so much better than even 10 years ago.
Who cares whom someone falls in love with? Love is good, we should have as much of it as we can find. Life is tough, then you die. Find solace where you can.
Who cares what languages you hear at the grocery store? Instead of anger, be ashamed you aren’t multilingual.
Who cares what music the young’s prefer? When I was 15 my friends parents refused to let him watch the Beatles `Yellow Submarine’ because it was subversive!
Life is good. It’s far to short to waste time on the things we cannot change.
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Putting aside whether running Joe Biden somehow removes the culture war from the equation, or instead focuses particular attention on it (with him being on the wrong side).
Here are the unique strengths Joe Biden brings, in comparison to the other Democratic candidates:
-Foreign Policy
And here are the ones which emphasize his weaknesses:
-Money in politics
-Corruption
-Inequality
-Tax Distribution
and of course,
-Culture War
I’m guessing that Biden runs a campaign with an eye on reconciliation with Republicans, but that ship has sailed. There just isn’t a lot of appetite for finding common ground with people who have been gleefully, almost deliriously antagonistic.
Once they go after the Special Olympics, you are no longer `deliriously antagonistic’, you are flat out cartoon villain evil.
I have no doubt Biden is just the guy to sit down and negotiate a compromise with republicans on the Special Olympics. He’ll give them more tax cuts in exchange for half the previous funding…..and claim victory.
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Joe Biden was the single worst negotiator of the Obama administration. Every time the budget needed to be negotiated and Harry Reid had a plan to overcome Republican bullshit, Joe Biden jumped in to save the day and give them far more than they were already agreeing to with Harry Reid. Jumping in, stepping on all our dicks, ruining the party. And that was with Harry Reid. Imagine him with Chuck Schumer.
Damn! I had forgotten about that!
Sorry, Joe..Time’s up.
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You should read better pundits. Cillizza is a complete hack and the fact that he needs to reduce politics to a TV shows how intellectually capable he is.
Biden’s problem is two-fold. Activists don’t particularly like his voting record and history of putting his foot in his mouth, and young people and first time voters go “Yawn”.
As to Cillizza’s argument- how does it explain that Biden’s greatest polling group is black women?
And some of us have vivid memories of things like the Anita Hill hearings.
I think he served Obama well, but we live in a different world now, and candidates like Hillary and Biden aren’t part of it. We need young people engaged and excited, not yawning.
If Biden is Draper, what does that make Trump?
In any case, this “Mad Men” formulation casts the election away from substance on to pop culture/entertainment ground to feed the horse race and keep the rubes who can’t name the next state over let alone their own representative “engaged”, e.g. watching cable news, clicking bait links, etc. “Who would you most like to have a beer with” type of nonsense. Although I am not totally opposed to Biden from the perspective of anyone or thing even but Trump, with Biden and Trump going head to head, the election could easily devolve into an old man, mano y mano, dick-swinging war. The Cillizzas of the world would love it, of course, but not good for the rest of us.
This is what “journalists” like Cillizza specialize in, shallow trivialization of important subjects to the advantage of a party that has nothing left to offer but trivialities.
If Trump is the end result of some 40 years of conservatism, Democrats should offer someone at least somewhat representative of the current state of the party. Biden, simply stated, is well past his expiration date. He needs to become the elder statesman/observer and head quietly toward the exit.
Perhaps a return to competency is the best message. I don’t mind that. Here’s what I also want:
In the past, Democrats would win primaries as progressives and then run in general elections as moderates. Hillary was infamous for winking at Wall Street, and letting them know that her messaging would be less progressive once she sealed the nomination.
In 2020, I’d like the eventual nominee to wink at the left, essentially saying, “I’m going to run on competency, but you bet your ass we’re going to be pursuing a progressive agenda once I’m in office.”
That would be nice.