Part One:
ADVICE FOR THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE
We welcome Todd Shaw, Distinguished Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina. We discuss the best strategy for the Democratic presidential candidate. Should he (not she, apparently) focus on winning over new voters to the Democratic side (the so-called “swing voters” who had voted for Obama but then swung to Trump)? Or instead, should the candidate focus more on getting out the vote among the Democratic Party’s traditional “base,” especially African-Americans, other people of color, and women?
We agree on the second strategy. African-Americans, in particular, showed up big-time for Joe Biden in South Carolina and afterward, and almost single-handedly propelled him to his position as the all-but-certain nominee. In addition, the more vulnerable populations and the middle class have the strongest reasons to be very afraid of a second Trump term.
At the same time, we hope that Sanders, Warren and progressive advocates have made it sufficiently clear to Biden that he should articulate more policies that incorporate protections for the 98%, and roll back most of Trump’s efforts to reverse the previous century of progress.
Part Two:
CAN WE LEARN ANYTHING WORTHWHILE FROM THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC?
Our second guest is Bob Hennelly, writer for Salon.com, Stucknation.com, and the Chief Leader, a civil servant newspaper in NYC. We discuss the coronavirus, Trump’s speech about it last night, and the way this crisis might have changed the public debate over Medicare for All/Obamacare/other possible options.
The COVID-19 outbreak has made universal healthcare into a national security issue. Moreover, the high costs of getting tested and treated for the virus are demanding scrutiny of exactly how much of our health costs will be covered by our insurance contracts and how much families will have to pay themselves, out-of-pocket.
We heard Pres. Trump’s response to the crisis last night, which was somewhat different from his previous statements about how much we should worry. In contrast, some state governors — like Andrew Cuomo in NY and Raimondi in RI — have taken command, gathered all information and evidence, set priorities and adopted a strategy to fight for their communities’ health. Most such governors are Democrats, and most Republicans have mirrored Trump’s hands-off approach. (At least one moderate Republican, Hogan in MD, has taken action too.)
ON LEADERSHIP
This led us to talk about the qualities of a good leader, a person whom people would trust sufficiently to leave that person “in charge” of keeping us safe or handling a crisis (or even “just” guiding the ship of state through choppy domestic and international waters).
Finally, we bemoan the way America’s “rugged individualistic,” “take-personal-responsibility” culture has left us bereft of our basic humanity. We walk through train stations and we look away from (or step over) sick, hurting human beings, who lie on the ground in a fetal position, maybe unconscious, maybe mentally ill but clearly unable to take care for themselves without help. Recently, Hennelly forced a security guard to call an ambulance, and when they arrived, the EMTs neither treated the man nor even touched him. They woke him up and let him stumble away shaking his head. That was “good enough” for the EMTs.
May the time come soon when the coin of the realm is kindness, compassion, and patience.
