We face the threat of autocracy whether Trump runs in 2024 or not. If he opts not to, or is somehow prevented from doing so, he will be a kingmaker in the eyes of his followers and they will follow the next would-be autocrat to the gates of hell. And that person could be smarter.
The trial still could have been quite valuable, in terms of instilling what happened in the public's memory. Having that galvanization to tap into could have meant something down the line, the way the stolen election narrative will have galvanizing power for the GOP.
The GOP will use the myth of a stolen election to fuel rampant voter suppression. The quiet part will become a battle cry. The Dems, by contrast, offer feckless, inconsistent rhetoric. They insisted the republic was at stake but couldn't be bothered with witness testimony.
One of the great weaknesses of neoliberalism has always been that it offers very little in the way of inspiration. Right now some people are swooning over the restoration of order, but as conditions change, people won't necessarily remain satisfied with mere competency & order.
(That part is a good thing.)
When things are going badly, there's no neoliberal mythology or reinforced identity that binds people together. The GOP does not have that problem. They tell racist white people their bitterness is valid, their impulses are correct and that they should get satisfaction.
That tends to maintain people's enthusiasm.
So we have a situation where the Dems could, in time, be looking at a pretty disillusioned base. How long will the Biden honeymoon hold? I think that depends on how bad things get and what the pushback against neoliberalism governance looks like.
I am not wishing them stability, to be clear, because I think the neoliberal agenda will drive us right back into fascist arms, just as it did before. I think they need to be met with... well, they kind of ruined the word resistance, didn't they? But you get it.
Neoliberalism will eventually conjure up another "change year" where people want a populist candidate and the Dems will never willingly offer that. This sets the stage for Trump, or a more clever and charismatic would-be autocrat, to swoop in and grab up the crown.
Talking points about the Democrats and their $2000 check promises will abound. Some have argued that won't work bc people know the GOP would have given them less, but I honestly don't think that will matter. Bc what's needed is an investment in one personality. Just one.
Today's great failure has nothing to do with a conviction the Dems were never going to secure. Collective memory is a battlefield & the Dems just ceded a whole lot of ground to the worst ppl they possibly could have. There's a cost to that, regardless of how you feel about them.
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