Did you see Shane Goldmacher’s report yesterday about how Trump is drastically scaling back and simplifying the GOP’s official platform? A memo from Trump’s campaign managers said they are paring down the platform ‘to ensure our policy commitments to the American people are clear, concise and easily digestible.’ It dismissed past platforms as needlessly ‘textbook-long’ documents shaped by ‘special interest influence’ that had left the party and its nominee open to attacks from Democrats… The memo makes clear that the Trump team sees the Republican National Committee platform almost exclusively as a tool to outline a contrast with President Biden in the 2024 race rather than as a way to set longer-term goals for the party… Anti-abortion activists, in particular, have been gearing up for a fight in case the Trump team seeks to dilute or delete longstanding language in order to make Trump appear more moderate on the issue.”
It’s part of a trend towards superficiality and authoritarian control within the party. By prioritizing clarity and conciseness over comprehensive policy discussion, Team Trump is effectively dumbing down complex issues to fit his own MAGA narratives, glossing over significant concerns— both inside the party and among normal people. The closed-door approach to crafting the platform indicates a disregard for transparency and democratic process, further consolidating power among Trump's inner circle and marginalizing dissenting voices, even within the party. Despite their bullshit, this tactic not only diminishes the role of diverse policy debates but also caters to special interests aligned with Trump’s vision, undermining genuine grassroots activism and long-term policy planning. The attempt to present a binary choice between Trump and Biden oversimplifies political discourse, ignoring the nuanced needs and aspirations of serious voters.
So that’s what’s going on one side of the aisle. Meanwhile, Brian Klaas was making the point that the widespread calls for Biden’s withdrawal are a sign of a healthy Democratic Party. Dismissing the GOP as a “cult of personality that continues to intensify its unwavering support for a presumptive nominee who is a convicted felon and habitual liar— a man who incited a violent mob to try to overturn an election, and whom courts have found liable for sexual assault and banned from doing business in New York. The other is in full-blown panic mode, considering whether an incumbent president should drop out of the race after he sounded frail in a debate. Republican fealty to Donald Trump— no matter his crimes, no matter his moral transgressions— is the hallmark of authoritarian devotion to a man, regardless of policies or ideas. It’s the telltale sign of a broken political party— one that long ago abandoned principles and values, falling back instead on an amoral, unwavering allegiance, by which Trump can do no wrong.”
Perfect frame because it’s so accurate. “By contrast,” he wrote, “the Democratic freak-out over Joe Biden is a sign of a healthy political party. Individual leaders— no matter how effective, decent, or well-intentioned— are not sacred cows, to be valued above the national interest.” Hmmm… is it the national interest or the party’s interest, which is to win elections?
“Democrats,” he continued, “view Biden the way that normal political parties view their leaders: as a vessel to achieve policy goals that will improve the lives of citizens. Nothing more, nothing less. This is why you don’t see Priuses adorned with Biden flags or bumper stickers depicting him riding a giant eagle. It’s embarrassing in a rational political party to fuse your identity with a man rather than his message. Republicans long ago jettisoned that shame.”
Consider this basic, damning fact: Trump lied constantly throughout the debate and refused to say that he would accept the outcome of the upcoming election. Not a single Republican in Congress condemned his lies, nor did they call on him to drop out of the race. A functioning political party would feature some dissent, with party leaders asking whether making a convicted felon the party’s political standard-bearer is really the best idea. But among the Republicans, crickets— because everyone knows that questioning the leader is political suicide. Get on the Trump train and ride it until the very end, or wind up in the political graveyard alongside Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney.
Republican devotion to Trump reminds me of a dynamic I’ve encountered while studying authoritarian regimes in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and elsewhere. In many of those systems, once a political party has coalesced around a charismatic demagogue, debate ends. Internal dissent is harshly punished. A destructive cycle follows: Leaders never face criticism, so their blunders get compounded. By contrast, in healthy, democratic political parties, dissent offers the possibility of course correction; voters and party leaders grumble or even openly challenge their leader, and either the leader changes or the party changes leaders. This responsiveness is the greatest strength of democratic governance. Republicans under Trump have smothered it— at our peril.
Many Democrats are worried that the debate over Biden’s political future will have devastating consequences. The worst-case scenario for Democrats is to have an ugly, public rupture, in which swaths of the party call on Biden to drop out, others defend him, and he ultimately limps toward November after suffering from an intra-party battering. But the best-case scenario— an internal course correction, brought about by healthy questioning of the party’s leadership— could be very positive. The White House could be made to understand the urgent need to change its political strategy, or the party could produce an alternative nominee with, perhaps, a better chance of winning in November.
The optics are understandably upsetting for Democrats. One candidate’s age-related frailty prompts calls from his party to step aside, whereas nobody in the GOP seems even remotely bothered that a lying authoritarian will lead their ticket into November, even if he must do so from a jail cell. But the urgent question facing Democrats isn’t whether the situation is fair or reasonable. It’s not.
“Age-related frailty?” OK, Trump is 78 and acts like a 2-year old. Biden is 81 and the job has taken a toll. On the other hand, Bernie is a year older than Biden— and seems fit as a fiddle, mentally, physically… and ethically. And if you're looking for youth... Elizabeth Warren is younger than any of them, having turned 75 last week. Klaas wrote that having the conversation, “is not a mark of a party in disarray, but rather an indication that the Democrats are currently the sole reflective, responsive political party in America. We can only hope that the discussion happens quickly, that the political fallout is minimal, and that come what may, voters in November recognize what Republicans cannot: that an authoritarian felon should never be president.”