A Sure-Fire Way for Democrats to Dominate While Republicans Become Anti-Democratic

Issue 48

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There is a difference in our world between power and force — as we have discussed in these pages and often will. We tend to hear a lot about political power, but I posit that much of what we call political power is actually political force. Force is a construct of the old consciousness: set a goal and make it happen — whatever it takes. It’s the whatever it takes part that is often, in this sense, the difference between power and force.

To be sure, particularly when we are talking about politics, the demarcation lines between what is force and what is power do not always appear in flashing, unobstructed neon. For example, officeholders in democracies with free and fair elections, ostensibly attain their offices through power, playing by the rules of campaigns and elections. If they misrepresent themselves along the way, they will have used force within that structure. If they win, they attain political power that derives from their office. That power itself is neutral until it is animated by the one who holds it. Whether what follows is political power or political force depends, of course, on the intention of the one(s) wielding it.

For example, when President Biden promised survivors of the building collapse in Florida last week that the federal government would pay 100% of the costs of the rescue and cleanup operation for the first 30 days, he seemed to be saying that he could and would use the power of his office to bring relief in a way his office allows. His intention appeared to be rooted in compassion so I would characterize that use of political power as authentic. Or conscious. On the other hand, I would characterize the Arizona state senate’s current “audit” of the November, 2020 election in Maricopa County as an example of wielding political force. They have the political power, by virtue of their offices, to carry out the project. It’s legal. But because the premise of the project is, itself, a lie, and their stated intentions for it are based on that lie, what flows from it can only be described as political force. Or unconscious.

But let’s not get too bogged down in all of that, conscious politics practitioner, because we’re better and better all the time at navigating these differences and we’ve got much bigger fish to fry today anyway. Given — and I don’t use the word lightly — that one of our two major political parties (let’s call them Republicans) is brazenly becoming brazenly anti-democratic, the burden falls on the other one (let’s call them Democrats) to singlehandedly uphold and maintain the American project.

It means that Democrats will need to insure that they amass and hold as much authentic political power as they can until such a time that there is another political party equally committed to America being a strong, functioning democracy.

This is an entirely new dynamic in modern American politics, which requires an entirely new approach. It means that Democrats will need to insure that they amass and hold as much authentic political power as they can until such a time that there is another political party equally committed to America being a strong, functioning democracy. You and I both know that the most direct path to attaining authentic power is the path of taking responsibility, so let’s roll.

If I had any sway over, say, the Democratic National Committee, I’d announce immediately that until the other party reasserts itself as one that is unwaveringly democratic, the Democrats new mission will be to be the party of responsibility:

1) for upholding and strengthening the American democratic project and

2) for the ways in which it has conducted and will conduct itself from this day forward.

All day every day I would have them beating the drum of this message: the Democrats are the only major party whose every member is a democrat.¹ As such, they welcome democrats of all stripes and varieties to this collective cause.

I would have them touting responsibility-taking and truth-telling at every turn, constantly calling attention to the truths they are telling and responsibility they are taking as and when they’re doing so and being utterly transparent about everything they are doing along the way as they call more and more people, first and foremost, to the cause of democracy. Over time and in enough time for the next election, the message takes hold that the two parties do not come close to sharing the same values.

I would have them offering a vision of a temporary, mega party of democrats who will make room for a wide array of voices within. I would have them talking about how they accept the challenge to do so and how they will make accommodations transparently.

I would have them pledging to take responsibility for recruiting candidates from across the political spectrum who pledge, above all, simply to be democrats.

I would have them creating fully-funded, never-before-seen grassroots voter registrations drives in every congressional district and every voting precinct, taking responsibility for making sure that every Democrat, would-be Democrat, and every American democrat is aware of how to vote and which candidates are democrats.

We cannot afford to repeat old playbooks because we’re playing a whole different game on a whole different field — and we cannot afford to lose.

I would have them taking responsibility for ways they’ve misunderstood some of the supporters of the previous president and stating their intention to listen more. I would have them taking responsibility for how some of their policies look and sound like socialism but how, in truth, they are not.

I would have them taking responsibility for the ways it appears that they are more beholden to corporations than citizens.

I would have them taking responsibility for making the case that a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic society that works for everyone is in everyone’s best interests.

There is a fervent minority in America who wants anything but this and a built-in, ever-expanding majority who wants all this and more. Nothing about how we’ve approached elections before will ever suffice while anything “conscious” we do going forward, I’m betting, will be the only game in town. We cannot afford to repeat old playbooks because we’re playing a whole different game on a whole different field — and we cannot afford to lose.

1. A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.