The doleful lesson of Trump’s mad flitting and strutting on the Washington stage is that it can happen here. Our democracy’s antibodies against...

View this email in your browser ([link removed])
[link removed]
[link removed]


** Tribalism vs. the American Idea ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------


** by Will Marshall, PPI President
------------------------------------------------------------

If Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump this week, it will begin to repair our country’s badly tarnished image ([link removed]) around the world. An even tougher challenge will be reviving Americans’ confidence in their long-running democratic experiment.

Most countries are bound together by ethnicity, language and religion. What makes America exceptional is that it was founded on a set of propositions favoring individual liberty and equality, and the right of self-government. The 2020 election is a test of whether these liberal ideas still hold sway, or whether Trump’s virulent brand of white identity politics ([link removed]) and illiberal nationalism will prevail.

A Biden victory naturally will reassure his supporters, who have watched aghast as Trump pollutes public discourse with lies, stokes social conflict and uses the U.S. government to further his political and business interests. But as president, Biden also would need to grapple with the radical alienation that has led white working class ([link removed]) voters to entrust the nation’s highest office to a showman with zero political experience.

Central to Biden’s appeal is his promise to unite Americans across a continental red-blue divide. That’s a tall order. The populist right is addicted to its hatreds, and its enemies list is long: the media, liberals, Democrats, globalists, immigrants, black activists, and the “deep state.” The “woke” left likewise seems primed for political retribution, not reconciliation.

Nonetheless, if he wins Biden should take his cue from Abraham Lincoln’s message of magnaminity ([link removed]) to the vanquished South. By virtue of his humble origins, pragmatism and empathy, Biden would be uniquely qualified to reach out to working class voters with a message of respect and hope.

Their choice of Trump has been likened to raising a middle finger to a despised governing class. OK, message received.

But what a stiff price we’ve all paid for that angry gesture! After four excruciating years of Trump-generated chaos and conflict, America is diminished in every way. No country has bungled the coronavirus pandemic as badly as ours. Major parts of our economy remain frozen and our society is seething with civil strife. Our standing in the world has sunk low, to the dismay of traditional friends and delight of foreign despots.

The doleful lesson of Trump’s mad flitting and strutting on the Washington stage is that it can happen here. Our democracy’s antibodies against demagogues, con artists and conspiracy mongers evidently are weaker than we supposed.
READ THE FULL PIECE ([link removed])
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fprogressivepolicyinstitute.medium.com%2Ftribalism-vs-the-american-idea-a41f5d329668 Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fprogressivepolicyinstitute.medium.com%2Ftribalism-vs-the-american-idea-a41f5d329668)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])

============================================================
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
** Medium ([link removed])
** LinkedIn ([link removed])
Copyright © 2020 Progressive Policy Institute, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in to communications from the Progressive Policy Institute.

Our mailing address is:
Progressive Policy Institute
1200 New Hampshire Ave NW Ste 575
Washington, DC 20036-6817
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp
[link removed]