A Cry for the Establishment: A Call for the Conventional Leader

Chaotic times call for conventional leaders

Imagine a coliseum and a convention center – two places within a football field of one another. Imagine each room filled to the brim with boisterous supporters clad in catchy merchandise as they eagerly push closer to the center of the room. In the center of the room there is a stage with a podium that awaits a worthy orator whose mission is to ensnare its audience’s cult-like loyalty. Pressure builds as fervent supporters cannot contain their excitement as they chant the name of their idol and supposed savior; anxiety and impatience swells the cries of the crowd until it reaches its pinnacle as the exalted one walks across stage to the podium.

What I’ve described are two separate events that happened over fifty hours apart only a few months ago. Two presidential campaign rallies of men who couldn’t be further alike in policy or ideology but are nearly uniform in their hate-inciting rhetoric and rabid fanbases. These men: President Donald J. Trump and Senator Bernard Sanders.

The persistent headache of Donald Trump is a problem conceived far before former President Obama announced his reelection bid. I am unable to solve the Trump problem of our country and the Republican party; I believe that it is Republicans who have to undo the havoc wreaked on their party by Donald Trump, it is not the place of a Democrat. The Republican party is historically the Republican party that represents conservative values and champions limited regulations – it is up to them if they wish to realign themselves.

24 It is my place – as a young Democrat – to speak my concerns for the direction of my party heading into a nation al election. I know what you’re thinking: “Peter, why would you as a Democrat attack a member of your own party?” First, Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat; he is too far left for the Democratic party and votes as an independent in the Senate. Second, it is only out

By Peter W. Beck

of desperation and a sense of urgency that I am identifying Bernie Sanders as a plague the Democratic party cannot afford to ignore. Finally, Bernie Sanders is not identical to Donald Trump, but he is the Democratic party’s version of Donald Trump. I do not make this comparison lightly – the resemblances between the two are uncanny.

The loudest cheers that came from supporters at the Sanders and Trump rallies, respectively, came when both railed against the establishment. In the age of post-Obama, large swaths of angry Americans who have felt marginalized by the modern political process have channeled their frustration into new kinds of candidates for public office: candidates who call themselves “political outsiders” who are here to create substantial change and “challenge the establishment.” Candidates who embody the rejection of the established political process can be best exemplified by Sanders and Trump; both Sanders and Trump tout their triumphs from the outside by proclaiming themselves as political outsiders here to fight for the common man. Furthermore, both are excellent in utilizing this tactic to bolster their support bases by finding Americans who feel alienated and dejected from politics. As a result, their most avid supporters are the people who are the most angry about American politics.

Although you’d expect Sanders and Trump supporters to be polar opposites, they hold overwhelmingly more similarities than differences. If you mixed the two together, they would be indistinguishable from one another if it weren’t for their respective “Feel the Bern” and “Keep America Great” gear. Both of these support bases boast nearly identical causes to support their candidates. As a result, many of these supporters are driven by Trump and Sanders’ reckless rhetoric to go to extreme lengths. These supporters have placed their hope in Trump and Sanders as messiah-like figures who are ultimate compasses for right and wrong. This means that anyone who opposes Trump or Sanders is wrong.

(Personally, I was attacked on social media after I asked Senator Sanders a pointed question on Russian election interference at a CNN town hall.) Broadly, we’ve seen politicians nationwide attacked by both Trump and Sanders supporters who have deemed candidates as lacking the degree of extreme that Trump and Sanders are willing to go to for change.

What Trump and Sanders both fail to recognize, however, is that their rhetoric against the political establishment is to the detriment of our republic. In the middle of a global pandemic, we need tested and robust leadership now more than ever. Our republic has worked – for better or worse – since 1789 and, although progress has been slow, it has always been made. The rhetoric that Trump and Sanders have harped on is delegitimizing the country’s government and effectiveness to rule. There will continue to be a shift in Americans who lose faith in this country’s government because of the continued persistence from these so called “outsiders” who are taking advantage of people’s ire and frustration for their own political benefit. Yes, the United States government is certainly fallible, but it is not in need of the complete overhaul that both Trump and Sanders are directly or indirectly proposing. We forge into dangerous territory if we blindly follow people that insist their way is superior to the current workable system.

This kind of divisiveness is tearing our country apart. Political campaigns shouldn’t embolden themselves with a superiority complex that their supporters feel justified in enforcing. Political campaigns shouldn’t reject people who fail to agree with them on everything but still hold a common goal. I can’t help but think that the increasing polarization and rampant attacks by these supporters can be attributed to the rhetoric of the Sanders and Trump campaigns; both are strongly opposed to each other, but they are weaponizing the same methods. Attacking people who don’t agree with you accomplishes firing up campaigns in the short term, but in the long run it only widens the gap that Americans are being caught in the middle of. I had written the bulk of this article in the immediate days following the South Carolina primary on February 29th. Former Vice President Biden’s rapid ascension to the forefront of the Democratic field seemed highly unlikely, and the widespread effects of COVID-19 on our society seemed unfathomable. However, we’re here now, and a myriad of well-warranted questions have emerged on COVID-19 and the Trump administration’s handling – and some would say mishandling– of the largest crisis so far in the twenty-first century.

Although you would expect an argument to shift after such drastic changes in our country’s direction, my thoughts are emboldened. This is a time in which we should welcome – not reject – establishment politicians because they’re the people who have the leadership capabilities and the experience to rescue us from this disaster. To Senator Sanders’ credit, he has recently made a concerted effort to unite his wing of the Democratic party under former Vice President Biden. Senator Sanders understands that this is not the time to demand stringent change but to unite the American people under the banner of a moderate, practical candidate who can restore the normal functions of our government. We have to ignore our inner demons and form a coalition of Americans from all arrays of the political and societal spectrum against a president who’s led this country far too close to its breaking point.

I don’t know if the Democratic party can defeat Donald Trump. I do know that we can’t beat an extreme ideologogue by shying away from a true fight or crying because our candidate didn’t win the nomination. If we want to defeat Donald Trump, we have to find a middle ground on which we can pull together the country and not just the opposite ends of the spectrum. The only way that America can heal from our current health and economic crisis and close its divide is if we ignore the extremes in front of us; we have to unite and vote in droves for the moderate and established candidate who will bring this country together. Only under a member of the establishment will we be able to heal this country, restore our government to a sense of normalcy, and beat Donald Trump. If not, we risk killing this country as we know it.