One of the highlights of the 2016 American election campaign was Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic Party Convention. “When they go low, we go high,” the outgoing first lady shouted to the delegates to thunderous applause. These words are history. When the Democrats gather for their convention in Chicago next August, there will be completely different voices.
Joe Biden already gave a taste of this in his ‘State of the Union’ speech. In doing so, he deviated significantly from presidential tradition. He did not give a good-humored speech in which he listed his achievements, outlined plans for the future, but also repeatedly spoke nice words for the opposition.
Instead, Biden attacked his rival Donald Trump head-on. He mentioned him thirteen times – not by name, but as ‘my predecessor’ – but each time in a very negative context.
Other members of the Grand Old Party (GOP) also got their kicks, especially notorious bully Marjorie Taylor Greene. The president responded to their interventions not only quickly, but also with visible pleasure.
Biden has thus thrown presidential and democratic traditions overboard. The two American parties differ significantly, not only politically, but also in behavior. Joe Klein, longtime political observer and author, states in an op-ed in the New York Times: “The Democrats are litigious; the Republicans are fighting. The Democrats almost float in a state of moral superiority; For Republicans, politics is a wrestling match.”
The different mentalities are related to the different types of people. The Democrats are full of lawyers, teachers, social workers, speech therapists and academics. “Generally speaking, these are not people who are used to throwing punches,” Klein says. “It is the party of identity politics, which always tries not to offend anyone. For them, decency and behavior are much more important than for the Republicans.”
However, decency no longer wins a flower in current American politics. Joe Biden has realized that he must do much more than warn about the decline of democracy and trumpet the successes of his economic policies. Unlike four years ago, he can no longer fight his opponent from the safety of the basement of his Delaware home. The devout Catholic Biden now says he should ‘stop turning the other cheek’. The slogan is now ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’.
And he does it too. Now that it is numerically certain that he will be the Democratic presidential nominee and will face Trump again, Biden is picking up the hammer. He refers to the chaos of the Trump era, especially during the Corona crisis. He ridicules his predecessor’s failed attempts to address the dire state of America’s infrastructure; and he defiantly declares, “Yes, I’m old, but I deliver.”
The Republicans, in turn, have long since switched to fighting mode. Trump has purged the party leadership. Not only previous boss Ronna McDaniel, but also about 60 employees were fired. New at the helm of the GOP is a certain Michael Whatley. His claim to fame is that he claimed he prevented massive Democratic voter fraud in the state of North Carolina, helping Trump win.
The ex-president expects that the new man can repeat this at the national level in the coming elections. “This time, Trump is demanding that party leadership be much more aggressive in instructing election monitors and filing lawsuits alleging attempted rigging in the run-up to the election and beyond,” the New York Times reports.
Not only Trump, other Republicans are also resorting to dirty tricks. A typical example is the hearing of special counsel Robert Hur last Tuesday. This was used to clarify whether Biden had also unlawfully kept classified documents. Although Hur is a registered member of the Republican Party, Democratic Attorney General Merrick Garland approved his nomination. Under Trump this would have been unthinkable.
In his final report, Hur states that there is no reason to prosecute President Biden. But Hur added an insidious caveat to his report, calling Biden a “well-meaning, older gentleman with a bad memory.” The Republicans are now exploiting this blow well below the belt to the point where this is no longer possible.
Democrats are relieved, even elated, that Biden is willing to repay in kind. But the president is walking a fine line: he must win the votes of independent voters. However, they don’t want a hooligan like Trump.
A typical example of the delicate starting position is the state of Arizona, a so-called swing state. Senator Kyrsten Sinema is not standing for re-election there. She was initially a member of the Democratic Party, but has politicized herself as an independent in recent years.
Therefore, the political calculus looks like this: In Arizona, 1.4 million people – about a third of voters – are independent. According to surveys, a quarter of them would have voted for Sinema. A bitter battle has now broken out between Democrats and Republicans over these votes – and it can’t be won with just a wooden hammer.
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
