Not Two Men, Two Ideologies

With the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, there has been a call from responsible members of both parties to tone down the political rhetoric. I agree that personal attacks on opponents not only endanger individuals and the civility of society but also distract public attention from the political crisis that is confronting the nation.

For those who aren’t ready to move beyond the politics of competence and character, I have nothing to add to the comments of historian Heather Cox Richardson: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-14-2024 However, the upcoming elections are not about two men competing to be the President but two ideologies competing for the future of the nation.

An ideology may be defined as “a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.” If Trump and Biden were both replaced as the Republican and Democratic candidates, the choice between competing political ideologies would remain unchanged. This election is about continuing the American experiment in democracy or abandoning democracy for some yet undefined autocratic form of government.

Biden represents a commitment to the political ideology reflected in the American Declaration of Independence, that all are created equal, are of equal inherent worth, and have an equal right to participate in the processes of governance. This ideology envisions the U.S. as a beacon of democracy and a land of opportunity that should continue to be a leader in the global community.

Trump represents a political ideology of authoritarian leadership, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social and racial hierarchy, reflected in strict limits on immigration and sacrifice of civil rights for the perceived good of the nation, and rigid rules of appropriate and acceptable social behavior. This ideology prioritizes “making America great again” and letting the rest of the world fend for itself.

Competition between these two ideologies has been building for at least the last 40 years. The Reagan Revolution of the 1980s was a rejection of the democratic ideologies of the New Deal and Great Society programs of Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. Conservative propaganda labeled those programs as communism or socialism and began developing political strategies to reverse their infringement on the existing privileges of those in positions of economic and political power. As Reagan said, the government was not the solution to “their” problem. The government’s ability to ensure the democratic rights of all was their problem.

Thus, the first phase of the retreat from democracy was to reduce the size and influence of government by reducing taxes for the wealthy and deregulating the economy. The second phase was to create a culture war that would divide the nation socially and politically. In the absence of “the consent of the governed,” the democratic government lost its “just power to govern.” Thus, Congress was left powerless to even secure the equal right of all to vote in elections. The final phase was to stack the Supreme Court with justices who would deny the civil rights affirmed by previous courts and grant the President the authoritarian powers of a king.

The stage is now set for an authoritarian to take power and complete the transition from a democracy to an autocracy. Donald Trump is important to this movement only because he has a loyal populist following that makes him the most electable of the potential candidates. However, the anti-democratic movement will ultimately support only those who support the movement. If Trump is elected, he will be allowed to rule only as far and as long as he serves the interest of the oligarchs in positions of economic and political power, as well as his own. If he fails in this regard, he will be replaced with another autocrat, chosen by those with the power to do so, not by the people.

Biden is probably not the most electable candidate the Democrats could have chosen for this election. He is not particularly articulate and is a better lawmaker than a politician. Biden is important, however, because he is among what seems a minority of Democrats who understand what is at stake in this election. If Biden is reelected, the threat to democracy will still exist, but the momentum of the anti-democratic movement will have been blunted and many of its strategies will have been revealed as it once again refuses to accept the results of the election.

Most importantly, if Biden is reelected, the American people will have another four years to understand what is at stake and to decide whether they want to continue the American experiment in democracy or abandon it in hopes of something better. In democracies, the people have a right to decide what kind of government they want. They are free to abandon their democracy for authoritarianism, socialism, or anything in between. But once a democracy is abandoned, it typically takes a military coup or violent revolution to get it back. This election is not about two men competing to be President, it is about two competing ideologies for the future of the nation.

John Ikerd