On Saturday, November 7, major news outlets called the 2020 U.S. presidential election for former Vice President Joe Biden.
More than half the country breathed a sigh of relief; the national nightmare that is President Donald Trump’s P’00 presidency was finally coming to an end. When the news came, the streets of New York City echoed with celebratory claps and cheers as people started to regain hope in U.S. democracy.
But amidst the celebration, a dark reality remains.
Although Trump lost the presidency, the conservative supermajority in the Supreme Court means that liberal policies will be gradually but surely struck down on the basis of constitutionality. This will undoubtedly endanger basic human rights.
Furthermore, Biden will enter the White House a step behind his predecessors. While the past three presidents all began their term with their party in control of both houses of Congress, Biden will likely have to manage a hostile Senate that can limit any liberal changes he tries to enact.
What’s more, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, who is known to be hugely conservative, has made it clear he will do whatever it takes to further his personal and his party’s agenda. He doesn’t care about what is right, and he is solely focused on attaining power — exemplified in the Republicans’ blatant hypocrisy regarding the Supreme Court nominations of Merrick Garland in 2016 and Amy Coney Barrett this year.
Unfortunately, Democrats must prepare for gridlock and petty obstruction.
Democrats will complain, and Republicans will win. Time is a flat circle. The poor get poorer. The rich get richer. Corporate interests infest Washington, trading money for influence. Conservative shills on the Supreme Court will eviscerate campaign finance laws, so our democracy will be further prostituted to ensure the few can retain control over the many. Nobody is protecting the ideals of life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness — just rich, white men hoarding power and influence until there is nothing left of our democracy.
The Democratic Party is either complicit in this charade or so incompetent that they fail to see why they are the serial losers. Trump was a historically unpopular president. But instead of driving turnout among younger and more diverse voters, Democrats subscribed to the idea that the path to victory was through Republicans who despise Trump.
On Saturday, November 7, major news outlets declared former Vice President Joe Biden winner of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Photo courtesy of The New York Times
Unfortunately, Republicans seem all too willing to choose an immoral Republican over an honorable Democrat. Time and time again, throughout the Trump administration, Republicans refused to stand up definitively against racism, sexism, nativism, and xenophobia.
Where is the Republican moral compass? Trump may be gone, but the Republican establishment is not.
I can’t shake the feeling that this presidential victory will only make the Republicans stronger. The Republican party will rebrand themselves, claiming that they left behind Trump and his extremism. Their danger will likely become more subtle and thus more insidious.
Conservatives will vilify figures like Representatives Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar by asserting that their progressive policies are socialist, and the Democratic establishment will likely agree. The center is always safer.
However, all hope is not lost. The Republicans don’t have control over the Senate just yet. Both Georgia senate seats are still up for grabs. For Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff, the late surge of Democratic votes prevented Republican incumbent David Perdue from reaching 50% of the vote. This means the election for this crucial Senate seat will go to a runoff in January.
The other Senate seat in Georgia is in the middle of a special election, and it will go to either Republican Kelly Loeffler or Democrat Reverend Raphael Warnock. If the Democrats somehow win both runoffs, they will control the Senate.
In the case that both Republicans secure the seats, the only hope for change during Biden’s presidency is if the Democrats gain control of the Senate in the 2022 midterms.
With a Democratic House and Senate, Biden could implement popular progressive policies and lead our country into the future. Hopefully, my pessimism is misplaced, and the country will heal instead. Or, maybe not. Welcome to politics in 2020.
