The fall and possible resurrection of the American left

The Democratic Party is repeating the errors of 2016, assuming that having a demented troll as an opponent is all that is needed to guarantee their boring centrist candidate a win. Twitter Democrats cite polls showing Biden ahead by a handful of points while crowing about the long anticipated blue wave that will give them the Senate as well as the White House and tolerate no challenges to their belief. The fact that Hillary Clinton looked like a guaranteed winner in 2016, with poll numbers that are mirrored this time around does not seem to disturb their smug assurance.

Why this is happening is easy for me, a progressive who would vote with the Democratic Socialists a lot, to explain out of my cynicism. I am not sure that Democrats want to win. Holding power is less useful for fundraising than being in the opposition, especially since those who are responsible for governing have a much harder job than those who only need to complain, and in any case, the Democratic Party shares with the non-fascist Republicans the goal of keeping wealthy people wealthy. Biden’s votes for bankers and his opposition to Medicare for All are exactly the sort of thing that give aid and comfort to those who wish to preserve the privileges of the few.

And then there is the question of what happened between Joe Biden and Tara Reade. The flurry of…