“Failure
is the pillar of success” goes the adage. There is wisdom in that, and hope. It’s
good that Republicans have decisively defeated the Democrats. There is no
excuse, no crying foul, no ambiguity. Donald Trump has won the White House, the
Popular Vote, the Senate and most likely, the House.
For
Democrats to overcome this stunning and total defeat will require a deep and
brutal reordering of priorities.
Our
Hispanic and white women population helped win women’s reproductive rights in 7
out of 10 red states but also supported Trump, the anti-abortion commander-in-chief,
in those states.
We
are bending over backward trying to explain this contradiction by invoking economic
hardship and anti-immigration sentiments when the only reason is a toxic
combination of racism, sexism, misogyny and male chauvinism. For these voters,
electing a female president, far less a female president of color, is worse
than hell.
We
will not progress unless we learn to call a spade a spade, which is that America
will not elect a female president, and certainly not a female president of
color, in the next hundred years. If we Democrats want to win back the White
House, the Senate, Congress and the popular vote, we must field a relatively
young, white male to contest for the presidency, starting in 2028, political
correctness be damned.
So
forget the pundits offering their earnest post-mortem analysis: Biden was too
late to call it quits, Kamala Harris did not go through a trial by fire, and
although she excelled in set pieces like the presidential debate, when it came
to answering questions about American workers barely making rent, she completely
botched it. Too many Americans were left in the dark about who she really was
and what she stood for. We mistook shadow for substance, carried away by Republicans
for Harris while ignoring ordinary Democrats clamoring for her attention. And
on and on.
Make
no mistake: If Harris won, this same chattering class would be riding their
high horses to condescendingly tell us: “I told you so!”
So
what now?
We
must put our efforts into grassroots activism at the local, state and national
levels. Some may counter this by saying, “But we were doing it!” To which I
will respond, “Only as a show, that is, in a performative way in the spotlight,
and not focusing on genuine performance on the ground, far from the limelight.”
Consider
the endless parade of mega-rich celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Beyonce, Taylor
Swift, LeBron James and First Couples Michell and Barack Obama and Hillary and
Bill Clinton giving their full-throated endorsement to Harris. After a while, though, it came across as hypocritical when these super-wealthy people claimed that
their hearts were bleeding for us working stiffs.
While
we must be generous and kind to our fellow Americans irrespective of their
political affiliations, it is equally necessary that we fight injustice and any
attempt to subvert the law of the land. Given his demagogic nature, Trump is
likely to make such attempts on the very day he takes the helm. We must be
prepared. Already Trump’s sycophant, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, has
called for Republicans to secure Trump’s "third term" following her
victory in Colorado's 4th District in the 2024 election. Even though the 22nd Amendment prohibits a
third term, we must be prepared if Republicans, with Trump’s certain approval, try
to break it. Overcoming the amendment will not succeed but with
Trump and his pliant, blind followers, nothing is beyond the pale.
Here
is the text of the 22nd Amendment:
Section 1
No person shall be elected to the
office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office
of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which
some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the
President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person
holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress,
and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or
acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes
operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during
the remainder of such term.
Section 2
This article shall be inoperative
unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the
legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the
date of its submission to the States by the Congress.
The
language is confusing for ordinary Americans like me but I only need to
understand the first 14 words to know that Trump cannot run for a third term.
So,
in a sense, as soon as Trump takes office, he also becomes a lame-duck
president. Yes, he will preside over what are expected to be four tumultuous years
from 2025 to 2028, but that will also be the permanent end of his presidency.
Who
will represent the Democrats in the 2028 presidential election? I hope
Democrats will not overlook the very real and ever-present Puritanical streak
that runs through the hearts of a majority of Americans which will prevent the
election of any female president. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer or Senator
Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is as capable as any male candidate, if not more,
but they simply will not win even if either of them were to run against someone
as unfit for the presidency as JD Vance.
Who
then among the Democrats?
In
my opinion, one of the safest choices we can make is Gavin Newsom, Governor of
California.
Newsom,
to his credit, has already made his move. On Wednesday, November 6, a day after
Trump won the presidency, Newsom congratulated Trump but also wrote that “the
freedom we hold dear in California are under attack, and we won’t sit idle.
California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond. We are
prepared, and we will do everything necessary to ensure Californians have the
support and the resources they need to thrive.”
The
Governor has called for a special session of California’s Legislature in
December “to safeguard California values and fundamental rights in the face of
an incoming Trump administration.”
California’s
proactive Governor has begun his 2028 campaign for the presidency of the United
States. It is not a moment too soon.
Let
there be a contentious and bruising fight among Democratic aspirants for the presidency
in 2028. A trial by fire is necessary but I am confident that Gavin Newsom will
come through and return America to its rightful owners: to us Americans in all
our maddening diversity and our hunger for a “shining city upon a hill.”
