What--or rather, who--are the "Killer Bs"? And why should Democrats--indeed, all of us in this country--worry about them?
They are four of the leading candidates in the Democratic primary for the 2020 presidential election. In the order in which they entered the race, they are: Bernie (Sanders), Beto (O'Rourke; no relation, by the way), Buttigieg (better known as "Mayor Pete," which is somewhat easier to pronounce), and, very, very recently, Joe (Biden, landing after a perplexedly long period of circling the field).
The application of the "B" part of the label is too obvious for even this much of a comment. The "Killer" part, however, may not be.
These four men (with the emphasis on "men") control, according to recent polls, garner support, in a field of 20 candidates and counting, including a significant number of well-qualified women and candidates of color, from approximately 70 percent of respondents.
At the risk of sounding sarcastic, which I do more easily than I like to admit, I'm not sure I gave that last point enough emphasis.
Less than three years after the first woman nominated for the Presidency came within a few thousand votes of actually winning it, and less than 11 years after the county elected its first African-American President, the political party that made all of that history is apparently content to ignore, and perhaps even reverse, all of that history in favor of the one form of "political correctness" that has always dominated and poisoned our politics as well as virtually every aspect of American life:
The version that favors white Christian men.
This seems to be based on some sort of irrational fear of losing this demographic cohort as part of the Democratic base. But this fear is an utterly irrational one. That demographic fled the Democratic party decades ago. And it's not coming back, no matter how many finely-buttered words the killer Bs offer on the subject of "economic anxiety."
These voters primarily live in red states, where they have regularly voted for Republican candidates at the state and local levels. Candidates that, once elected, have worked night and day for the sole purpose of comforting their donors (many of whom live elsewhere), and afflicting the very people who put them in power in the first place. Candidates who, in the process, have driven the economies of their states into ruin, and the blue residents into other states where it is possible to vote for sane public policy. Ever wondered how, or why, this kind of political insanity works?
I'm sorry to have to say it this bluntly, but I might as well: race is the key. It always has been. I sometimes fear that it always will be.
And I also fear that the Killer Bs are too in love with the idea that, because they are white men, and also Christians except in Bernie's case, they somehow have some kind of magic power to persuade their demographic cohort in red states and elsewhere to join with women and people of color to build a common vision of our nation's future. Biden, in particular, suffers from this self-delusion. As a long-time Senator from Delaware, his entire career has been built on the reach-across-the-aisle fantasy that always ends up with Democrats selling out their values for the sake of enacting bad Republican ideas. The Hill-Thomas Supreme Court hearing fiasco is but one example; Biden's opposition to busing and support for mandatory sentencing laws are others. It was only when he became Obama's "wingman," and backed the policies of a progressive President, including the Affordable Care Act (now almost as sacred as Medicare), that Biden developed a following among progressive voters in his party.
White men voting for T**** didn't cost the Democrats the Presidency in 2020. Progressive voters buying into the Jill Stein delusion, with perhaps a little help from Vladimir Putin, did a lot more damage to Hillary Clinton's campaign. But Hillary did the greatest damage to herself, by not working harder to shed her well-earned corporate image and appeal to progressive voters. That failure is best summed up in two words: Tim Kaine. When I heard that Hillary had picked him as her running mate, my immediate reaction was "uh-oh." I knew that she needed to go bold, and she showed with that choice that she was going to play safe instead. Trump's nomination on the Republican side and Bernie's insurgency should have combined to tell her that safe was not an option. Unfortunately for all of us, that didn't happen.
And, from the looks of things right now, it may not happen again.
We can't afford to let the Killer Bs kill our democracy by re-electing T****. Right now, I have no idea how to stop that from happening. I feel trapped by their failure to understand that, right now, the country is engaged in a cold war that has the potential to become a hot one.
Look at the events of the past week. Our "President" doubled down on his support for white nationalists. Yet another racist attack on a synagogue followed, with a senseless tragic death as a result (as well as several wounded, including the rabbi). And, after a few token words of "sympathy" for the victims, T**** flew off to a self-fellating rally in Wisconsin in which he accused Democrats of murdering babies.
The Killer Bs are looking for a common ground with Republicans that no longer exists. They are aspiring, on the other hand, to lead a party whose base consists of (added emphasis again) the majority of the people of this country: women and people of color. That's where the votes are. And that's where the future of the country lies.
If any of the Killer Bs want my vote, they had better act on that simple truth, and make sure every one of their actions and words reflect it.
Starting right now.
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