SUBRAMANIAN: Dangers of 'Vote Blue No Matter Who'
Column: Whadda I Know
It is election season.
With 2024 being another year for the Presidential election and all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 33 Senate seats being up for grabs, this election can potentially change the country's direction. Furthermore, the youth vote is now more important than ever.
According to the Brookings Institute, the youth vote was seen as crucial in preventing the red wave from having a larger impact in the 2022 midterm elections. As a result, it is important that our vote is being made with our interests in mind. This comes with the danger of the Democratic slogan, "Vote Blue No Matter Who."
In Democratic politics, "Vote Blue No Matter Who" runs on the idea that even if you disagree with everything the Democratic candidate stands for, it is better than having a Republican in that seat. This kind of thinking makes sense for the Democratic Party.
It is largely seen as a big-tent Party that has both liberal and pro-choice voices voting for the same person as pro-life conservatives. This has historically been true with coalitions, like the New Deal Coalition, getting Black Americans and white Southerners to vote for former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Since the Democratic Party is much more reliant on this broad coalition than the Republican Party, the need for this lockstep toward one candidate is seen as necessary in securing election victories. With the upcoming Presidential election, what that means for Democrats is: be a good little voter and vote for the incumbent, President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
In this upcoming election, there are multiple threats to Biden's reelection. Within the Democratic Party, environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former 2020 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson have launched their presidential campaigns.
Outside the Democratic Party, academic and political activist Cornel West has launched his presidential run under the Green Party and the People's Party. Similarly, the centrist No Labels group has announced that they will run a unity ticket while focusing on getting ballot access in all 50 states.
With these challenges to Biden's reelection, it is clear that his allies are focused on squashing any of these threats and treating them as trivialities. For example, former 2016 and 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I-VT), once a critic of Biden from the left, attacked West's criticisms of the economy.
"I think we've got to bring the entire progressive community to defeat Trump or whoever the Republican nominee will be, (and) support Biden," Sanders said.
This quote suggests that voters inclined to vote for West are just ushering in Republican rule. Rather than trying to understand why voters might want to vote for West, Sanders says that Left-wing voters should fall in line and support Biden.
Similarly, when discussing Biden's participation in debates with Kennedy and Williamson, Biden's allies were quick to dismiss this possibility. Executive Vice President for Policy at the Centrist Third Way group Jim Kessler stated that Biden has no obligation to participate in these debates with him calling Kennedy and Williamson "gadflies" who have not earned their right to debate him.
The American people deserve to know the alternatives to Biden. Currently, Biden has a 55.9 percent disapproval rating, and his track record can explain why.
He is presiding over high inflation (remaining persistent even with rate hikes from the Federal Reserve), is the oldest U.S. president (and it shows), allowed oil drilling projects that exacerbate climate change and passed the CHIPS and Science Act, which serves as nothing more than corporate welfare. Over these last three years, it is safe to say that Biden has underdelivered to the American people.
The American people are repeatedly losing faith in this country's institutions. The use of "Vote Blue No Matter Who" allows the Democrats to get away with subpar candidates that do not reflect their voting base.
By having this slogan, what the Democrats are telling voters is that it may be an awful Party that has no interest in representing you, but at least they are not Republicans. It is no wonder why the Democratic Party has a 57 percent disapproval rating and 49 percent of Americans choose to identify as independent.
Voters should no longer have to put up with the bullsh*t lesser of two evils argument that the Democratic elite forces upon them and should hold the Party to the fire. The Party should work for you, and if it is not, support candidates that will work for you.
But hey, whadda I know?
Kiran Subramanian is a senior in the School of Arts and Sciences majoring in economics and political science. His column, "Whadda I Know," runs on alternate Wednesdays.
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