The Reckoning that Never Was: Remembering the Primaries and the DNC's Unresolved Disputes
A Response to The Guardian's David Smith's "Why congressman James Clyburn was the most important politician of 2020"
Long before there was a president elect Biden. Before the largest election in American history. Before there were lockdowns, mask mandates, and nationwide civil rights protests. Before millions lost their jobs, and thousands of businesses shuttered their doors. Before The United States had lost nearly 350,000 souls in the greatest public health emergency in a century. At the very start of 2020 there were the Democratic Primaries. America was naïve. Nonetheless the events that surrounded these early elections had a resounding effect. A sentiment echoed by the Guardian's Washington DC bureau chief David Smith when determining House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn the most important politician of the year.
Smith recounts a story in which Clyburn heeded the advice of a stranger in church to publicly endorse the then down-and-out Biden prior to the South Carolina primary. Clyburn, flexing his might in South Carolina, jumped behind the former vice president, and in Smith’s words, “set the stage for a comeback worthy of Lazarus” during a moment the country faced, “a near death experience for democracy...” and to which, “Biden met the moment as a general election candidate,” coming out on top in 2020. Don’t you love the romance? The good guy with help from his old friend overcomes impossible odds to defeat the villain and save the day. The primaries may feel a world away, but to those who were paying attention then, they may remember this moment differently then Smith.
Getting the story right
It’s Wednesday February 26th. Donald Trump has been acquitted by the Senate in an impeachment trial three weeks earlier, and now holds his highest approval rating ever. All eyes are on the Democratic primaries which will decide the candidate to try to dethrone an incumbent president with a relatively strong economy and high approval rating.
Six primary candidates make up the crowded field. Bernie Sanders is coming off a pair of wins in New Hampshire and Nevada, and a narrow second in a messy Iowa caucus. Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden and a more distant Amy Klobochar have split the moderate vote. With Mike Bloomberg set to enter the race, there is currently no consensus moderate contender to Sanders.
Now, with three days to go until the South Carolina primary, Clyburn delivers the endorsement everyone has been waiting for. Perhaps late in the game but well short of surprising, Clyburn, intent to “make a splash”, who in his own words, “had long known who I was going to vote for,” threw himself behind Biden. In doing so Clyburn took the not-so-bold step of endorsing the once vice-president to the most popular Democrat in recent memory, and who had retained a lead within the Palmetto state at all points leading up to this election.
Clyburn’s endorsement secured Biden the win, and a solid one at that, securing 49% of the vote. What happens next is conspicuously missing in Smith's account. Pressured by their party following South Carolina and before Super Tuesday, Amy Klobochar and Mayor Pete will go on to drop out of the race and endorse Biden. If at this point voters had decided on a consensus moderate you would have had me fooled. Nonetheless the DNC had found their man in Joe Biden, and the others couldn’t remain. A brilliant moment of anti-democracy from the Democrats.
Sander’s up against the full weight of the Democratic establishment, only made worse with his progressive opponent Elizabeth Warren staying in the race, will go on to have a tough Super Tuesday. The next week brings six more elections, and the race for all intents and purposes will be over. With coronavirus making landfall in the United States and the first lockdowns arriving by March 21st, not only will the race be over but the primaries will slide far, far away from public view.
The Reckoning that Never Was
There is no denying Clyburn's endorsement and Biden’s subsequent victory in South Carolina shaped much of what the year would bring. However, it is critical to remember what direction the country was heading towards at that point. Smith's romantic tale whitewashes a DNC that was beelining for an inevitable party wide reckoning. Revising this history distracts from assessing the underlying division the party continues to face unrelated to the disastrous events that created a setting that led to a Biden victory in November.
Joe Biden may have very well been the best suited candidate in the field to face off against Trump in the wake of the pandemic or otherwise. However, I believe it is fair to say he was well short of a perfect candidate. One only has too look as far as the couple speeches delivered by Obama prior to election to know that is true. He had shown more charisma in those speeches then the whole of Biden’s campaign. At risk of sounding speculative and hoping not to make light of an absolutely devastating humanitarian disaster, Joe Biden’s path to victory was only made direct by Trump disastrous management of the coronavirus response. One could go as far as to say that if Trump had worn a mask early and often and suggested people stay reasonably safe rather than hydroxychloroquine and “the cure cannot be worse than the disease” we very well may be looking at a Trump second term. Had the worst health emergency in a century not occurred Biden would faced a far tougher opponent
Democrats in 2020 followed their own 2016 playbook. Favoring an established name to new blood and progressive challengers. A loss under these conditions would have been devastating. Considering how poorly the Dems performed in a win they very likely would have become the minority party across government and prompting massive soul searching. A DNC establishment that doesn’t know how to win, a party that has sidelined rising figures in favor of rapidly aging leadership, and growing and proven progressive core that have felt disenfranchised by the party two election cycles in a row; this is the reckoning that never came.
But, that's not what happened, so why does it matter? Trump’s disastrous year may have helped Biden come out on top, but it certainly hasn’t resolved the internal divisions the DNC has shown. The tone between Democrat factions in the wake of the election has proven as much. Similarly, telling Smith’s congratulatory tale of how we ended up here glosses over reality. However, now that Biden is in power for better or worse, there is an opportunity to resolve these divisions. It bears to see whether or not the Biden administration can sure up the party and take steps to usher in a new era of leadership that better incorporate the progressive wing of the party. 2020 may have helped the DNC escape a reckoning of its own making, but unless the right steps are taken there should be a real fear the party has only managed to punt this disaster to 2024.