Every time there is a presidential election, some observers proclaim it to be the most important ever. This time around, that statement is likely true. And yes, you have heard that before.
The apparently inevitable November 5 rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump will determine not just the future course of American democracy, but also its fate. Trump, more unhinged and dangerous than ever, has made no secret of his intention to embrace autocracy and use the presidency to absolve himself of crimes and exact “retribution” on his foes, which he has explicitly stated will include locking them up.
Now Trump awaits trial on multiple criminal charges for expropriating classified documents, making illegal hush money payments, and conspiring to overturn the election result in Georgia and throughout the country, precipitating a violent insurrection. Trump promises to be a one-man wrecking crew for democratic values and traditions.
Yet much of the nation seems blithely indifferent to the most fundamental of those values and traditions: the right to vote.
In the 2020 election that Biden narrowly won, 66 percent of eligible U.S. voters performed what is often called their “civic duty.” It was the highest U.S. turnout since 1900. Yet it was below the voting rate for a presidential/national election in numerous countries including Belgium, Sweden, Brazil, South Korea, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.
“In fact, when comparing turnout among the voting-age population in the 2020 presidential election against recent national elections in forty-nine other countries, the United States ranks thirty-first,” the Pew Research Center points out. Yikes.
The months ahead will be filled with endless appeals to the one-third of the populace that couldn’t be bothered to state a preference the last time around between Biden and Trump, as well as to the millions who may have voted in 2020 but aren’t sure this time. The choice is between a fundamentally decent guy who is not always sharp and not always right and, well, Donald Trump. It shouldn’t be a tough call. Yet the future of American democracy now hinges on convincing people that they should do the bare minimum and vote, to the extent that the Republicans haven’t made it too difficult.
It is critical that progressives be engaged in the electoral process. We should reach out to the people who most need to be persuaded that their vote matters, and do what we can to remove all of the obstacles they may encounter. That’s Job One. But it isn’t Job Last.
A functioning democracy needs people who vote; a vibrant democracy requires people who are willing to do the hard work of trying to make a better world. On the progressive front, this means people who oppose war, racism, violence, and the destruction of the planet no matter who is President and what party is in power.
Comedian Jon Stewart, in his February return to The Daily Show after a nine-year hiatus, had some wise reflections on this topic. He forecast the upcoming tsunami of efforts to get people to do the very least—to turn out to vote—and called on us all to do the very most—to be full participants in the life of our democracy. Here’s what he had to say:
“You’re gonna get inundated with robo calls and push polls and real polls and people are going to tell you to ‘Rock the Vote’ and ‘Do the Vote’ and ‘Vote the Vote’ . . . and it’s going to make you feel like Tuesday, November 5, is the only day that matters, and that day does matter. But man, November 6, ain’t nothing to sneeze at, or November 7. If your guy loses, bad things might happen, but the country is not over. And if your guy wins, the country is in no way saved.”
He added: “The work of making this world resemble one that you would prefer to live in is a lunch pail fucking job, day in and day out, where thousands of committed, anonymous, smart, and dedicated people bang on closed doors and pick up those that are fallen and grind away on issues till they get a positive result, and even then have to stay on to make sure that result holds. So the good news is, I’m not saying you don’t have to worry about who wins the election. I’m saying you have to worry about every day before it and every day after. Forever.”
With that said, let’s get to work.