Just over one decade ago, history was made in the United States when our first black president, Barack Obama, was inaugurated following the 2008 election. Now, there are more women and minorities vying for the Democratic party nomination for the upcoming 2020 presidential election than ever. The likelihood of any of these diverse candidates winning, though, is questionable. In fact, I highly doubt that this country will see another president that is not a white male any time soon. This is not to say, however, that minorities and women should not seek to hold political office. On the contrary, representation of minorities in politics is more important now than ever, as we face an ever-more connected global society. Still, in order for the Democratic party to have a chance to recapture the Executive branch, they need to separate themselves from identity politics. These identity politics, while intended to promote inclusion, can actually leave some voters who are not wedded to the party or are not as liberal feeling isolated or animus. It is these votes, though, that Democrats need in order to win a Presidential election.
It is important to note that we are currently in need of a presidential candidate that demonstrates a compromise between the increasingly extreme political parties. Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates agrees that our present federal government is stifled, unable to perform the simplest tasks. He maintains that the reasons for this, other than the obvious fact that neither party can reach an agreement with the other, are “governmental ineptitude, arrogance and corruption, and self-serving politicians more concerned with getting reelected than with the nation’s future.”
If the Democratic party wants any chance of recapturing the White House, they will need to put forward a candidate that fits the traditional “American look” in order to gain Republican votes. This is unfortunate news for more than half of the Democratic candidates.
I would mostly agree with this point. I think it is important for women and minorities to fight for the presidency, as well as other political positions. In the midterm elections, we saw the most number of women and minorities elected into offices. This demonstrates the traditional trend in which the party not in office gains power. Although this is not always the case, I believe that due to America’s disapproval ratings of Trump at the moment, the Democratic Party will most likely win the election. However, with that being said, Trump has sparked a large movement of white supremacy that has been been publicly seen in a long time, not to undermine the fact that discrimination and violence against minorities has never stopped. It will definitely take more work and effort for the minority candidates to win the presidential election. It will also be important to consider that there is a major political party realignment occurring. So, there will be new and unpredictable changes in the coming up elections. The chances of a minority winning the election will be probably low due to our country’s continual fear of uprising minorities, but I would say that there are more variables that make it difficult to predict.
I would like to build off of this comment and say that I agree with statement above that says President Trump has sparked a large movement of white supremacy. My problem with this is the fact that he was actually elected. The slogan “make America great again” that Trump has been using since he first started running for the presidency hints at the fact that America wasn’t great before. But we are told everyday in some way shape or form that we live in “the greatest country in the world”. The slogan itself reflects white supremacy in a sense because its technically saying that America wasn’t great under President Obama, who as we know was our first African American president. I would also like to agree with the fact that the Democratic Party does have an advantage in the next election because of the actions being taken by Trump. With that being said, it won’t be easy to win an election with a candidate that is of a minority race because of the white supremacy sparked by Trump. Even if their plans for the country are exactly what ever American wants, which isn’t really possible, there would still be a chance of loss due to the fear of minorities. As mentioned above, the Democratic Party must put forth a candidate that is “visually pleasing” for lack of better words, to both political parties.