Howie Hawkins gets his math right. The election was extremely close. A lot closer than we like to admit. He just gets everything else wrong.
He has two main themes: First is how close Trump came to winning. In other words, he recognizes the importance of preventing another four years with this would-be dictator in the White House. But if it was so important to defeat Trump, then why did Hawkins run in the first place? And if Biden had been the Democratic candidate would Hawkins have run against him? Along the way, Hawkins writes things that might sound good but are simply untrue. He claims that "Biden ran as much against the progressives as Trump." I'm not sure what Hawkins is saying here. (Maybe Hawkins isn't sure either.) Is he saying that Biden opposed progressives as much as Trump did, or that he campaigned equally against both Trump and against progressives? In either case, he is simply living on a different planet. Did Hawkins watch any of the presidential debates? Did he listen to any of Biden's speeches or view any of Biden's ads? 90% of what he had to say was an attack on Trump. Hawkins doesn't like Biden's having distanced himself from the progressives? Fine. Let him say that without misrepresenting what actually happened. I also think that Hawkins vastly underestimates the conservatism that exists in the US. I think that a lot more people - workers included - are a lot more conservative than many on the left like to think. During the primaries, the overwhelming majority of black voters voted for Biden for one reason: They felt he had a better chance of defeating Trump. Implying that they were simply manipulated by the Democratic Party leadership dismisses those voters' agency. As for myself: I actually think that they were right. I don't think Sanders would have defeated Trump. 2020 is not 2016, as the increased vote for Trump shows. The Trump supporters have fallen a lot more deeply into the rabbit hole. The overwhelming majority are not susceptible to the economic appeal that either Sanders or Hawkins makes. On the other hand, Sanders would have scared off that layer of middle class white Republicans who ended up voting for Biden. That was the assessment of black voters and I think they were right. I voted for the Democrat for the first time in 50 years. And that was in a "safe" state (California). I figured that even if Trump were reelected, the fact that he got fewer popular votes than his main opponent would marginally weaken him. Every day that passes reinforces me in my decision. Now, we are seeing Trump's campaign to overturn the election results and the traction he is gaining. Can you imagine what he'd be doing if he'd actually won? John Reimann -- *“Science and socialism go hand-in-hand.” *Felicity Dowling Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#5042): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/5042 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/79355542/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
