05-24-2020, 03:40 PM
(05-24-2020, 05:12 AM)Dill Wrote: Some confusion here for sure. Not clear that any party should "be above such behavior"--unless maybe someone doesn't understand what parties are and how they work in a democracy like ours.
It is NEVER the job of any party to say "Oh yeah, go vote for the other guys. They're the better choice this time around." ALL parties campaign by proposing solutions to problems. Ridiculous to think of a party whose platform is "Well, we'd like you to vote for us; but we aren't going to "use" problems to get elected. We're above all that!" Hard to see how good governance could ever come from that.
This is supposed to be an agonistic system in which each party makes a case and the voters decide. Concerning most issues, people can reasonably disagree on alternatives. Though a few special interests may want to prolong the current pandemic for profit, the majority of Americans sincerely want their political leaders to find the best way out of the pandemic and its ill effects. And the majority will vote for whomever appears best able to do that.
So a party "using" the pandemic would have to make a case for the best way out that appealed to the majority, and to stay in power it would have to make good on its promises.
Then it's the job of the voters to decide which party makes the best case and the job of the press thereafter to keep governance transparent and not be intimidated by threats. The majority won't willingly harm their own interests "just to make Trump look bad."
We don't get rounds of bad politicians because they stoop to "using problems" like a pandemic to get elected, but because of what voters want or will settle for, including tolerance of press bashing. Voters who cannot discern competence will get incompetence and settle for scapegoats.
I mean, if I knew I was heading into gunfight and showed up with my .40, I guess it would be at least worth a try to try to shame the dude across from me into using a kitchen knife, or maybe his bare hands. I could tell him all about how unethical and cringeworthy it is to use such an efficient weapon in physical combat, and really drive home how much more virtuous I was than him for his even entertaining the thought of shooting me. I mean, think about the children, right?
All the while I could be loading my clip, inspecting my weapon, and feeling morally superior in the process while I get ready to waste him. It's not a bad strategy really, but I think we're all a tad beyond that in this country.