Things may be even worse then they seem

Sam Smith – Bad as it obviously is, the political state of America may actually be even worse than it seems. Key to this is that Biden is doing poorly and that the Democrats have no one strong to replace him. Here are a few of the stats:

·      - Using an average of the last five polls Biden has a 43% approval rating, 3% below his high in the past year.

·      - He currently leads Trump in the last five polls by an average of only 3%

·      - He leads DeSantis by 1%

·      - Democrats lead the GOP as the best party in the last five polls by less than 1%

·      - Based on the latest five polls, Only 29% of Americans think the country is moving in a good direction.

·      - Biden is the oldest president. In second place was Ronald Reagan who campaigned promising to resign if the White House physician found signs of dementia.

·      - Biden has no strong possible replacement. A recent Democratic primary poll found Biden getting 27% followed by Buttigieg at 17% and Harris at 9%. In other words, not only is Biden weak, he has no strong potential alternative.

It is also unfortunately true that the Democratic Party is no longer seen as representing the average American. As liberals have become better educated, their ability to speak ordinary United States has declined. Meanwhile, two of the most damaging presidents – Reagan and Trump - have been show business pols who learned that acting beats facts at the voting booth.

American culture has dramatically changed as well. For example, the role of community – and with it how one treats and works with those around you – has markedly declined. People are far more involved in institutional or isolated activities – from their corporation to their Iphone. Every major positive change in America has come from the bottom up, but our ability to repeat this pattern has collapsed, witness the failure of the angry or depressed young to organize and become a counterculture.

We have also become highly judgmental of others as an alternative to working and organizing with them. This not only can be dramatically seen on the right but also on the left,  producing concepts like critical race theory that stigmatizes whites without positive alternatives or recognizing that the answer is not to be imprisoned by the past but to build a new future.  

In short, this is not a good time. To change it, for starters we need to rediscover community, build multicultural alliances built around common issues and have the young show us a better way.

We have come out of bad times before and we can do it again.