On Voting for Biden (or not).

Many of my friends and colleagues are trying to decide how they will vote come November. While they have no intention of voting for Trump, they are not sure they can support Biden. This I can fully understand. 

But let me start by saying this -- I do not engage in, nor do I tolerate, vote shaming.

If people decide, based on their political principles and value commitments, to vote for a third party that best represents their political interests, or not to vote at all because they reject the two party duopoly, that is their prerogative and I respect their decision.

There needs to be a recognition and acknowledgement, by the vote shamers, that the two-party system in the US radically narrows the range of political choice and is profoundly undemocratic. Among the 32 OECD electoral democracies, the US has the fewest number of “effective parties”. The number of parties is positively correlated with voter turnout.

Let us also appreciate the need for political parties and candidates to actually mobilize voters rather than taking their votes for granted, simply because they are not the “other” party/candidate; or assuming voters “have nowhere else to go”. Many of those who decide not to vote, or vote for a third party, may very well have been “de-mobilized” by the two parties.

There are many ways to think about and frame the voting decision in this election. I present here just one way in the context of viewing the vote as a political strategy, rather than the vote as a singular expression of one’s political ideological preference.

As a democratic socialist, I certainly have a vision for what kind of society I would like the US to become and this would involve, as a start, building social democratic institutions that both provide expanded opportunities for political and economic democratic participation and expression and, accordingly, a decommodification of the basic necessities of life as has been proposed through an economic bill of rights involving health care, education, housing, and employment.

Right now, we are nowhere close to this vision. But how do we get from here to there?

One way to think of this question is to consider the obstacles that must be removed in order to advance in the direction of a progressive social democratic agenda.

In that context I would consider the Trump administration to be the first and most significant obstacle, not only based on their reactionary right-wing extreme neoliberal socio-economic policies, but also because the administration is veering toward authoritarianism that could translate into a further extension of state sponsored repression directed at left wing activists specifically. Under these conditions, we are in an entirely defensive position.

Therefore, the first obstacle that must be removed is the Trump administration or, to put it more broadly and accurately, removing Trump is a vitally necessary, but grossly insufficient, condition for realizing a more democratic and humane society. If one follows this logic they might decide to “vote against Trump”. I put it that way because many people will have a hard time saying that they support, or are voting for, Biden. This is because they do not, in fact, endorse Biden or his politics. But in the two-party dynamic, to “vote against Trump” is essentially to cast a “vote for Biden”.

But that alone is insufficient because that is only the first of many obstacles to the realization of a social democratic agenda. The second obstacle that must be taken on is the deep-seated neoliberal ideology and policy agenda, that has been embraced by both parties, and which remains firmly established within the centrist corporate wing of the Democratic party. So far, there is no indication that the Biden/Harris ticket will depart significantly from this so-called “return to normalcy” which means a return to the neoliberal status quo that gave us Trump.

This means that, assuming Biden/Harris emerge victorious in November, it should not be considered a “win” because it just represents the removal of the first obstacle in a long-term political struggle. This is critically important because there is a long history of people on the progressive left declaring victory after a Democratic win followed by complacency and political deactivation (see 2008 and the victory of Obama). There is a reason that people say: “the Democratic Party is where social movements go to die”. This cannot happen. Once Trump is removed, the social democratic left can shift its energy, from a defensive to offensive strategy, against the corporate dominated Democratic Party establishment.

So, I offer this as just one way to think about the voting decision in November.

There are obviously many more factors to consider, in particular whether one resides in a “swing state”, and the importance of down-ballot races.

I welcome comments and feedback.