I had the saddest thought this morning.
It occurred to me that, of course with out any knowledge of what the future holds, perhaps it would be better if Trump won. Because if he doesn’t, he is going to contest the election on phony grounds. And the Supreme Court and the Senate are going to back him up. And that will undermine the legitimacy of our political system. RIP USA.
I have long thought that it is important for all of us to recognize that, in the chaos that a widespread loss of legitimacy could cause, it is the most marginalized—the people progressives tend to be most concerned about— that will suffer the most. The nods to revolution that I hear from friends and colleagues frustrate me, because they almost universally fail to acknowledge this *really* important point.
In a situation in which Donald Trump contests an election he loses, and uses our current political system to his advantage, all will be chaos. And then all of the things my dear friends care about—like ensuring that they maintain healthcare for their children, access to unemployment insurance, public schooling—goes out the window.
So maybe, I thought, it would be better if we aren’t subjected to the chaos.
But that’s not true, either. We are only where we are because we have endured four years of norm-breaking, violence-inducing, institution-undermining from our current administration. Four more years of that is certainly also a death sentence for democracy in the United States.
There are two things that give me a sliver of hope:
1) The possibility that Biden’s win will be uncontroversial. It seems to me a lot of people are recognizing how important it is to be politically active. If the electorate shows up, maybe things could change.
2) The possibility that most American citizens—those who are moderates or lean right—will denounce any sort of political machinations that Trump might use to try to maintain power if he loses. Patriots care about this country, and undermining the legitimacy of our political system means an end to our country.
But I’m not particularly convinced that either of those possibilities is substantial in any way.
So I’m praying. I hope you might join me.