Mike Rose blogs once every few weeks. One day I will copy his excellent model. But this season it is hard to cut back, in view of the pandemic, the uncertainty about keeping our students and staff safe, and the most consequential national election of many, many years. Those who know Mike Rose’s work usually become Mike Rose Fan Boys or Fan Girls
I am grateful that he shared his latest post, in which he offers advice to Joe Biden and Kemala Harris.
In this post, Mike captures the anxiety that so many of us feel about the polls. Biden is leading in all of them but we remember what happened in 2016. Trump is like a monster who lurks behind every door and in every dark alley, ready to spring at a moment’s notice to swallow our democracy.
Rose is worried about the so-called “enthusiasm gap.” Trump supporters remain fervently loyal. Biden-Harris voters express a commitment that is rational but not as intense. Will that matter on November 3?
Rose offers advice:
Be more than “not-Trump.”
Educate the public, starting with what Trump wants to do to health care. He is a consummate liar and many of his own followers have no understanding of his malign plans for the future.
Get out and meet with large crowds, safely.
When you visit towns and cities, highlight the good work happening in those places.
He adds:
You are both skilled retail politicians, a talent constrained by COVID, because, unlike Trump, you believe in the basics of public health. There is a great challenge before you, and I hope all the bright campaign people around you are focused on it: How to integrate the potency of human encounters on the campaign trail with the communication possibilities of virtual technology. Unfortunately, you have to solve this problem while the campaign is in high gear, steer the boat while building it. But if you can do it, you will make history – and reclaim what remains of our democracy.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Trump is not alone as a lurking monster working up a huge appetite to devour OUR Constitutional Republic.
FiveThirtyEight published a disturbing piece this morning: “The Latest On Repulbican Efforts To Make it Harder to Vote”
” …. We focused on Republicans for two reasons. First, making it harder to vote is a more controversial and anti-democratic goal than making it easier to vote, as Democrats are aiming to do. And second, President Trump is playing a central role in these voting wars. …”
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-latest-on-republican-efforts-to-make-it-harder-to-vote/?ex_cid=trump-approval
It should be glaringly obvious that we must get rid (legally, peacefully, electorally) of this monster posthaste; what more proof or information do you need after 4 years of this disaster. It was obvious in 2016 that Trump was not fit to be president and now we are at the red alert phase with Trump wanting to turn the US into a banana republic. And yet, there are people like Chris Hedges who are still saying that they will not vote for the democratic neoliberal war mongers, blah, blah, BS crap. Geez, I have so much respect for Hedges who is a man of honesty and principles and yet he’s a knucklehead when it comes to Biden/Harris. He even admits that Trump is worse than Biden and that the Green Party will lose. But he’s going to vote Green anyhow! Hedges should listen to his friend, Cornel West, who will vote for Biden but will not endorse him. West realizes that it is all important to oust the gangster/mobster in the White House.
Chris Hedges exemplifies white privilege.
The policy differences where Trump and Biden differ the most — like night and day! — don’t affect privileged white men like Chris Hedges.
It takes having some empathy to understand why just because your white privilege protects you, other people who are in a far more vulnerable position will be hurt.
It would be just as easy — in fact, much, much easier — to fight for progressive ideas under a Biden presidency than under a Trump presidency.
But Hedges only cares about what is important to HIM as a white privileged man whose father was a Presbyterian minister and not to others. To Hedges, the Supreme Court doesn’t matter. Voting rights don’t matter.
Hedges was so sure in 2016 that having Trump was no big deal. He was proven wrong, so he is doubling down and saying having Trump for another 4 years is no big deal. Hedges doesn’t care about 180,000 Americans who died of COVID-19 and I suspect he would not be as cavalier about Trump if those 180,000 dead were white like him and the Trump supporters he feels so much sympathy for.
Hedges has enormous sympathy for the white Trump supporters — but the lives of the people of color who suffer under Trump and the Republicans are expendable to him. They are not expendable to Cornel West. But then West doesn’t sit in the same position of white privilege that Hedges does.
Hedges doesn’t care about a right wing Supreme Court or the systematic disenfranchisement of people of color. Hedges cares about those white Trump supporters who Hedges says are correct in blaming Democrats for all of their problems and not Republicans.
When people like Hedges say it doesn’t matter whether Biden or Trump wins, he is right in that it doesn’t matter to privileged white people like him. There were many complicit people in Nazi Germany who said the same thing – that Hitler was no worse than the other “neoliberal” politicians. And lucky for those white Aryans who claimed they didn’t like Hitler but refused to lift a finger to stop him, they didn’t suffer the fates of those who weren’t Aryan.
The progressive movement can grow under a Biden presidency. It can be quashed under another 4 years of Trump. So why would a progressive not vote for Biden and make sure Trump is gone?
White privilege.
Biden Bros are irksome.
not only does Hedges “care” only about what is important to him as a privileged White male, but he only understands what is important to those in his privileged sphere
Biden just gave a good speech in Michigan. It was pro-union and pro-American worker. In talking to GM workers, he vowed to invest in electric vehicles. If Hedges really cares about the environment, he should read Biden’s platform which is pro-clean energy. If Biden actually wins, he promised to enact green policies. Throwing Hedges’ vote away on the Green Party is actually like vote for the most dishonest president in our history. It’s a vote for coal, oil and more dirty politics.
And it is a vote to punish African Americans and condoning racist policies and voter disenfranchisement which aren’t important to Hedges. Hedges has lots more sympathy for white Trump supporters than for the African Americans whose votes nominated Joe Biden.
Hedges reveals a deep-seated racism in his over the top sympathy for racist white Trump voters and his willingness to throw African American voters under the bus to punish them for not supporting the candidate that Hedges demanded that they vote for.
I like so many others share the angst surrounding this election. Rose gives us some good advice. Biden and Harris have to convince people that life with be better for them if Biden and Harris are leading the country. The two weak areas for the Democrats in the polls are the economy and law and order. A recent Biden ad condemned violence and looting in the demonstrations. I agree with BLM,but at this point, I wish the mayors of Portland and Rochester would impose a curfew in their cities. The continued brawling that occurs nightly looks bad for Democratic mayors and plays into Trump’s hands. They need an ad that shows that that fact is that Democrats are better for the economy than Republicans. Also, Trump’s failure has driven up the national debt and hurt the economy.
I am happy that Biden and Harris are on the campaign trail. Harris is in Florida to reach the Afro-Caribbean community there. They both need to campaign in the battleground states. In addition to the good advice from Rose, I think Biden and Harris need to make a significant outreach to Latino voters. They need to give this untapped group a reason to show up and vote. Obama did a good job with this demographic. I don’t care if they bring in Latino celebrities to campaign in Florida and Texas. They should not ignore this growing group of voters. Biden and Harris are down by only two points in Texas which is a big prize. Even if they just go to Houston and Dallas, it would be a worthwhile trip.
” I agree with BLM,but….”
Usually a good indication that the commenter really doesn’t know what’s going on with the BLM protests, and, sure enough, apparently you don’t. The “brawling” you complain about is nearly 100% police and right-wing infiltrators like the “Proud Boys”. The protests are peaceful until the cops start spraying teargas and beating people with batons and the right-wing groups (with police support) start driving vehicles into protesters and shooting at them. For most black people in America right now, they are literally living in occupied territory where neither cops nor their supporters give a damn for their lives. The protests erupted on May 25th in response to the death of George Floyd and since then there have only been dozens more deaths of unarmed black people while highly armed white people are allowed to walk right past police lines after killing protesters.
If you want to give advice to Biden/Harris, tell them to stop with the “both sides” nonsense – that’s Trump territory. Tell them to commit to reducing police (and military!) funding and channeling that money into jobs, health, housing, education, etc. People don’t riot when they’re needs are met and they have hope for their future and for their children’s future. “Reform” isn’t going to do it. More police isn’t going to do it. Been there, done that, got the body bags to show for it.
“People don’t riot when they’re needs are met and they have hope for their future and for their children’s future.”
White Trump-supporting neo-Nazis riot as a way of quashing dissent. Their needs are being met and their ‘hope’ for their (white) children’s future is that their children will remain in their place of supremacy and privilege.
BLM protesters are NOT “rioting” — but some people looking to discredit the protesters are.
Brawling is not going to advance social and economic justice, nor will it change the behavior of police. What it is doing is confirming for independent voters that Democrats are not dealing well with civil unrest. A curfew would allow for calmer heads to prevail.
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
Again…thank you for this…. Everyone who knows the reality of this moment, is frightened… we know how this man will do anything to retain the POWER, he craves.
Call me a fan girl of Mike Rose, even if I am not feeling very girly these days.
His books are wonderfully nuanced descriptions of the importance of community colleges and varied programs there, from basic skills in writing, to carpentry, welding, and more. I hope that Jill Biden has read some of these books, in addition to his blog posts.
The single biggest problem is “Get out and meet with large crowds, safely.”
Trump does not care about the safety issue. Biden looks very “alone” in too many of the video clips I have seen.
There have also been reports today of not great support from Latinix in greater Miami, Florida, particularly those who still have close emotional ties with Cuba. I hope the Biden/Harris campaign schedulers and managers are paying attention.
So far, the margins of support are not overwhelming. Bob Woodward’s audio taped conversations may help Biden, if people are paying attention. Trump knew the virus was deadly but he deliberately presented it as no worse than the seasonal flu. He also enlisted others in this and other more notorious misrepresentations of the virus and cures for it. Trump, his family, his cabinet, and all of his supporters who want a fast track-track vaccine without due diligence should be required to be first in line for the shots.
Ha, ha, “One day I will follow his excellent example.” Diane, I remember when you once wrote that you were going to post much less. Never happened!!
You are like RBG: unstoppable!!
& we are much the better for it!
Thank you!
Some day, I will.
I was very happy to see that Biden went to Michigan! From my lips to his ears!
(Ha, ha.) Seriously, perhaps Michael Moore got to him…
And, just maybe, a smart campaign adviser realized HRC’s huge error in 2016.