For a few months, COVID-19 relieved us from a fight we’d have otherwise faced. Which fight? The one where leftists decide whether to vote for this cycle’s bad Democratic candidate. The Democratic Party served us a rotten Joe Biden sandwich. And we can’t put off forever the decision on whether to take a bite. We’ve seen a new argument for voting Biden – the idea that he’ll create ‘better organizing’ conditions for leftists.
Let’s take a look at this one.
Caveat Emptor
But first a warning. Arguments about voting typically range from bad to worse. Many are downright dishonest. This point goes for both sides, i.e., leftists who do and do not vote Democratic.
And so, I begin from a place of skepticism. The most common arguments these days begin with an appeal to ‘harm reduction.’ Those arguments are pretty lousy. We’ll see whether the ‘better organizing’ argument improves the situation. Proponents of ‘better organizing’ arguments got a recent boost from none other than Angela Davis. She endorsed the idea in a Democracy Now! interview with Amy Goodman.
The Better Organizing Argument: First Attempt
The motivating idea behind the argument is that Biden will create better organizing conditions on the ground for the left. And so, leftists should vote for Biden to create these conditions.
But the first thing we can note about this is that it’s hardly an argument at all. At least, it’s not an argument for the idea that Biden will create better organizing conditions. It might be an argument for voting for Biden if proponents can put some substance to the reasons involved. But proponents simply assert it. They seem to think it’s obvious.
Even worse, on the rare occasion they try to support the idea, they do a terrible job. They appeal to authority rather than telling us why Biden will allegedly create these ‘better organizing conditions.’ The worst versions of this now involve wielding Angela Davis as a weapon to coerce and guilt leftists into voting for Biden.
The less said about this the better. Do we really need to review informal fallacies again? Davis herself was trained in philosophy, and so surely she doesn’t endorse this misuse of her words. To get to something resembling a decent argument, we’re going to have to dig a bit deeper here.
The Better Organizing Argument: Second Attempt
Since proponents don’t really provide an argument, I’ll have to do it for them. Here’s my attempt:
Trump has little or no interest in responding to popular pressure, at least from the left. He’s not playing that game. And he does other things – fanning the flames of racism, sending the feds to fight protesters in Portland, claiming Antifa is a terrorist group – that create bad conditions for organizing. Biden ain’t great, but he’s not as bad as that. He won’t descend into cartoon supervillain territory like Trump. Maybe he’ll even respond to popular pressure. And so, leftists should vote for Biden on pragmatic grounds.
Does that cover it? I think Biden defenders have something much like this in mind. I think Angela Davis also had something like this in mind.
Evaluation
Is the second version any better? Well, it’s certainly not worse. It makes a number of good points. Yes, Trump is worse than Biden by a number of measurements.
The biggest problem with the argument? It takes a very narrow view of conditions for leftist organizing. Organizing isn’t just about the law and about the message coming from leaders. It’s possible for the president to both make it legally more difficult to organize while, at the same time, motivating more people to join demonstrations and protests.
The net impact? In Trump’s case, far more people got politically involved in the weeks after Trump’s election than during most of the Obama presidency. People joined demonstrations, they joined the DSA, and they got involved in other popular movements. Many vaguely left-leaning voters grow complacent during periods of Democratic Party rule. They show up like no other during presidencies like those of George W. Bush or Donald Trump.
Organizers think about many different things when they get to work. They think about what the law allows them to do, yes. But they also think about whether people are motivated to act.
But can leftists pressure Biden? Maybe. This is the stronger aspect of the argument. But I wouldn’t be too sure of this. In office, I expect Biden to retain many of the authoritarian moves from Trump’s term. He’ll inherit a quasi-imperial presidency. And his power will come largely from business and moderate voters from both parties. Circumstances surrounding COVID-19 might move him to the left, but I don’t think leftist voters will play a large role in any of that.
The verdict? It’s a weak argument. Perhaps there’s a case for voting for Biden. But that case doesn’t relate to better organizing on the left.
Why Is This Important?
Those of you who know me know I don’t much like talking about who to vote for. Nor do I spend much time doing it. So, why talk about this argument?
I’ll go back to my guidelines on this one. It doesn’t matter all that much who you vote for. But here’s something that does matter: how social factors and other conditions shape our organizing efforts! We should think much more about these things. This baloney about Biden and Trump gives us a rare opportunity to do so.
