GOP doesn’t Need Democracy, Democrats Do
I have been thinking a lot about how we got to this particular political crisis where the Republican party is as close to embracing fascism as it has anytime since the 1930’s. And of course with election denialism being the order of the day why Democrats don’t also deny election outcomes as much or in the same ways.
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Now part of this is strategic, Dems arguing that they are the party of the workers (unions have long been a linchpin of Dem support and vice versa) do better when more people vote whereas Republicans do better when the vote is restricted. (This of course needs a quick historical reference that from 1870 to 1970 or so Dems in the southern states did massive voter suppression until LBJ pushed through civil rights and by 1980 those white supremacist vote suppressors were now staunch Republicans and have been for the last 44 years.)
But if we look at what the Democratic party (as opposed to Dem politicians) represents and it’s again the workers, the minorities, the environmentalists, the collective of the disempowered massing together to be heard. Whereas, the Republican party represents the interests of religion and big business (whatever their framing might be they are clearly the party of tax breaks for the rich and Christian Evangelical beliefs.)
Claiming to represent the interests of the masses and to give them a voice requires an ontological commitment to democracy. You can’t claim to give power to the people without self determination, ie. democracy. The GOP goals of promoting big business and Evangelicism need no such commitment. Heaven is not a democracy, God dictates to his followers, he doesn’t stand for election. And big business doesn’t care what kind of government gives them the deregulation or tax breaks it needs.
So one side, by it’s own moral commitments has to embrace election outcomes, while the other sides moral commitments require no such thing, even reject the idea of election outcomes. I am, more and more, coming to think that this slow creeping doom of the GOP began with it’s allowance of the Evangelical right into it’s ranks and eventually it’s inner circle.
