Tuesday, Nov. 8, is Election Day. Television and social media are plastered wall to wall with political attack ads that offer voters far more heat than light. We hear more about blame than about solutions. The noise distracts from the reality: real issues are at stake in the election.
Democracy is on the ballot. The New York Times found that the majority of Republican elected officials in major offices now embrace Trump’s Big Lie about the 2020 election being stolen, as do more than 100 current Republican candidates for major offices. The Republican National Committee defends those who sacked the U.S. Capitol, saying they were engaged in “legitimate political discourse.” Congressional Republicans voted to block legislation that would expose the sources of dark money and limit big money and corporate money in our elections. At the state level, Republican legislatures have pushed to make it more difficult to vote, particularly for those in cities or on college campuses. And across the country, election officials are being terrorized, armed “observers” turn out to intimidate voters, and mass, unfounded claims of voter fraud threaten to sow election chaos.
Justice – and justices –are on the ballot. If Republicans take the Senate, they will block confirmation of Biden’s judicial nominees. The Supreme Court packed with right-wing partisans has stripped women of the right to abortion. This session, they are targeting voting rights, affirmative action, gay rights, and the ability of the federal government to protect consumers and the environment and to regulate corporations. They are even taking up a case that would nullify state constitutions to give state legislatures absolute power to determine the outcome of elections.
Workers – and inequality – are on the ballot. On the stump, Republicans tout themselves as the party of white working people but vote with corporate CEOs when they get in office. They oppose raising the minimum wage. They oppose strengthening workplace health and safety laws. They oppose empowering workers to organize and bargain collectively. Republicans want to raise the retirement age or roll back the benefits of Social Security and Medicare. They want more tax cuts for the rich and for corporations while blocking the child tax credit that would provide working families with much-needed help for childcare. They oppose any relief for those burdened with student debt while voting to preserve the obscene tax break for hedge fund operators.
Climate is on the ballot. Republicans vote in mass against investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency. They want to rev up production of oil, gas, and coal and sustain the subsidies that go to big oil. They promise to weaken regulations on clean air and clean water. In contrast, many things are in those political ads but not on the ballot. For example, inflation dominates Republican ads, but a party that favors tax cuts for the rich, deregulation, and opposes price controls, antitrust laws, lifting sanctions on oil-producing countries, or taking on profiteering by the drug companies, the oil companies, and the health care complex has no plan on inflation.
Crime is also a feature of political ads, but neither party has an answer. Republicans oppose any regulation of guns – or any reforms of police that might increase their legitimacy. Both parties want more police and more harsh sentencing. If history is any guide, these will add to injustice but do little to reduce crime.
Immigration provides grist for stump speeches but not for solutions. Republicans want to build the wall and beef up the border–but they oppose comprehensive immigration reform, oppose cracking down on the employers of undocumented workers, and oppose aiding development in our southern neighbors to reduce the desperation that drives people north.
Gridlock isn’t in the ads or on the ballot, but it is the all too likely result of the election. Our nation is bitterly divided in the face of great challenges. Partisan divisions make it easier for entrenched interests and big money to block vital reforms. Corruption grows ever more corrosive. The only hope is democracy and the vote. Americans agree far more about issues and direction than our parties and politicians suggest.
For change to come, voters will have to cut through disinformation and distractions. Consider Summer Lee, a brilliant candidate for Congress in a district near Pittsburgh. In her primary, she had to overcome literally millions of dollars in ads that claimed she was not a real Democrat. The ads were paid for by a pro-Israel lobby that raised money from Republican billionaires. In her general election, she faces a Republican candidate with the same name as the popular former Democratic incumbent retiring after decades in office. She may still win, but only if voters pay sufficient attention to cut through the slander and the confusion. As voters, we still have the power, but with campaigns getting more expensive, dark money, and disinformation getting more pervasive, we’ll have to work harder to exercise it. Please vote by Tuesday and get your neighbor to vote. Our democracy depends on it.
You can write to the Rev. Jesse Jackson in care of this newspaper or by email at jjackson@rainbowpush.org. Follow him on Twitter @RevJJackson.
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