By Vernon A. Williams
The people have spoken. Joe Biden was virtually counted out of the presidential race after Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. Not even his most heartless distractor can dispute that the man has courage and resilience. It appears that he will be the stand bearer for the hope of our nation. There is a reason 45 fears his candidacy.
The party nominee won’t be official until the Democratic convention. The only way the party regains the White House, and perhaps the Senate, is if the party is together, emphatic and strategic going in.
It’s frustrating to hear folk who foolishly buy into the misnomer that the current president is some kind of unsurmountable power that can’t be beaten; that his re-election is inevitable. That kind of thinking is ludicrous and as the preacher would often convey from the pulpit – “a lie from the pits of hell.”
People need to stop playing. There is way too much at stake. Nothing matters between now and November but voter education, registration, activation, and Election Day participation. The fate of our republic lies within our capacity to stay focused and maintain momentum for another eight months.
Flashback to 2016. Those speaking truth will be the first to confirm that it took a “perfect storm” for the unprecedented upset that saw the first citizen in U.S. history, catapulted into the White House with absolutely no record of public or community service, no previous elected or appointed office or military experience.
You know how this freak accident happened. It took meddling into the election on the part of our most highly regarded adversary, Russia, combined with a flood of uncontested lies and media exposure provided free of charge by ratings and money hungry cable news networks.
It took an opponent in Hillary Clinton who brought too much baggage and FBI Director James Comey breaking all the rules to smear her name.
And with all that in his favor, the former television reality show host won by a whisker, not a landslide. Never mind the Electoral College gap, examine the facts. The truth reveals the razor thin separation between victory and defeat for the incumbent.
This was anything but a mandate. Forget the 54 percent white female vote, Black voters could have changed the entire outcome, without a doubt, but too many decided for whatever reason that the election wasn’t worth their vote. Here is how easy it would have been for African American voters to keep 45 out of the Oval Office:
Trump won Wisconsin by 23,000. In Milwaukee alone, 93,000 African Americans didn’t vote. In Florida, Trump won by 113,000. In Miami, 379,000 Blacks voters cast no ballot. In Michigan, Trump’s margin of victory was a slender 11,000 votes after some 277,000 Detroit Blacks failed to vote. In the state of Pennsylvania, the incumbent won by 44,000 votes. In Philadelphia 238,000 Blacks never stepped into a voting booth. And in Georgia where Trump won by 211,000, 530,000 Blacks did not vote.
After Tuesday, the Democratic party edges closer to identifying the nominee to provide leadership in the quest to retake the role of leader of the free world.
The one thing the party will not be able to do is endure infighting. Let’s be clear, any of the 25 or so citizens that at one point or another sought the office is more qualified than Trump.
This country has survived the most reckless and corrupt administration in history. The world has withstood the global chaos his disjointed policy caused. And the division his bigotry has prompted has been the shame of a nation built on pluralism, the struggle of human rights and imperative to be guided by the rule of law.
All those principles have been challenged for more than three years. And false claims of healing the economy – which got on track under the vision and leadership of President Barrack Obama – won’t be a sufficient enough red herring to distract American voters from doing the right thing in November.
The only thing that can defeat the Democrats is disgruntled Democrats.
So please don’t aid the enemy by crying the blues over the fact that your first choice won’t be heading the ticket. This kind of selfish thinking is destructive. And if the individuals who fashion themselves as being leaders of the party can’t band together for this one goal, then they are not worthy of respect.
This is it. This is not a game. There will be no do-overs. It’s time to put all differences aside and advance with one focus. Winning.
CIRCLE CITY CONNECTION by Vernon A. Williams is a series of essays on myriad topics that include social issues, human interest, entertainment and profiles of difference-makers who are forging change in a constantly evolving society. Williams is a 40-year veteran journalist based in Indianapolis, IN – commonly referred to as The Circle City. Send comments or questions to: [email protected].
