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I remember sitting in my political theory course in college. My professor asked the class, “What makes a democracy?” The answers came fast and furious: a constitution, a voting system, a party system, an open media. With each answer Professor Goldberg casually shook his head. We students became increasingly frustrated with his refusal to tell us. A few people even challenged his line of questioning.
Eventually, he lifted his head up and said, “The losers agree to lose.”
He explained that a constitution is essentially words on a page. An election is an event that occurs. Parties come and go. The media plays a significant role in shaping and disseminating information. But what ultimately counts is when one side fails to win, it agrees that it will accept defeat and move on.
In 1801, America experienced the first peaceful transition of power from John Adams’ Federalist administration to Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic administration. It was the first time in world history that power changed hands from one regime to another without war and conflict.
American presidents have continued this tradition time and again throughout history — including Richard Nixon’s resignation after the Watergate crisis and Al Gore’s concession to George W. Bush after the chaotic recount in 2000. These men agreed to lose for the good of the nation.
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We’re now facing a man in Donald Trump who may not do so. He has turned this election into a brutal war of attrition. He has decided that failing to grow his base of support beyond his core, he will work to suppress Hillary Clinton’s turnout. No American presidential candidate has decided to pursue this strategy in modern American politics — and potentially not ever in history.
He has decided that he will make life so miserable and intolerable for his opponent that she either cracks under pressure or loses support or enthusiasm among her growing base.
This election is no longer about issues. It is about methods.
Trump is employing methods never seen in this country. He’s operating right out of the playbook that tyrants and dictators across the world use:
- Mercilessly attack the other side
- Defame and dehumanize your opponent
- Divide and conquer oppositional groups
- Whip your supporters into an angry mob
These methods threaten the fabric and stability of American democracy.
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We need two things to happen in this country, NOW. Our very system is under threat.
- We need every eligible voter to engage in the political process. This is no time to sit the election out, claim ignorance or apathy, or to abstain from voting. The stakes are existential.
- We need public repudiation of Trump’s methods from a bipartisan coalition of elected officials, business leaders, and other influential personalities. This is a SAVE-THE-REPUBLIC moment for our country. Leaders need to lead.
Please stop pretending that this election is about the future direction of our country when it’s truly about the future power of one man.
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Photo credit: Getty Images
The below comments are a bunch of gaslighting, and hyperbole to try to complicate the issue. First of all, this article is spot on. Trump is guilty of all of the above, and much more….. What has happened is very simple….A man with a monumental desire for power (both for self-glory and self-serving…to position himself to lower taxes on himself)…has played into the most base impulses of the most small-minded and ignorant. From day one I knew what he was up to. When he said “they’re laughing at us”….it was so very obvious who he was playing to…the sophomoric and… Read more »
A-men, Rich.
You’re too late. Our government is already controlled by life-tenured bureaucrats who are not responsible to the voters. They will remain in office no matter who wins the next election. And the election after that. We go through the motions of having democratic elections, but we lost the substance of real democracy over the last century. We’ve swallowed the justifications fed us by people who told us that saving lives, feeding childres, etc., etc., were more important than mere process. And here we are.
What anodog said. Look around David. Where were you when Obamausurped Congress with his bic pen? Where were you when Congress did nothing? Sorry David. But your silence contributed to the loss of democracy. Now just please own it and stop blaming the other side.
Btw. To save you time, I wrote letters to the editor. I called my Congress reps. I posted all over the place. At least I tried.