U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, who has called for national unity
Now that Joe Biden is the President-elect of the United States, Republican supporters of Donald Trump, along with their candidate, are suffering the various stages of grief. It’s tempting for Democrats, after years of disgraceful treatment from many Republican voters, simply to tell Republicans, “I really don’t care, do u?” However, there are several reasons why some Democrats will want to take a less belligerent approach toward Republicans. For example:
–Some Democrats have Republican friends and/or family members, and want to repair and maintain their relationships.
–Some Democrats, perhaps taking the lead from Joe Biden, believe it’s in the best interest of the country to at least try to reach out to Republicans and create some national unity going forward, given the ongoing COVID pandemic and other big challenges we face.
–Some Democrats uphold the party value of empathy, and just cannot be jerks toward the Republicans, even though they would surely suffer Republican incivility if the tables were turned.
For these Democrats, therefore, the question becomes, what to say to Republicans that strikes the right balance between “shove it” and sacrificing their own principles? Here are some ideas:
— “We hope to have less drama going forward.” This is a somewhat ambiguous statement that can be interpreted more than one way. It can mean that we will be relieved not to wake up to some crazy Trump tweet or action that throws the nation into turmoil. On the flip side, it’s a reminder that Joe Biden, like Barack Obama, who was often referred to as “No Drama Obama,” is likely to operate the government in a smoother fashion than did Trump and his team. As New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters indicated last night:
https://twitter.com/jwpetersNYT/status/1325261219884920832
—“In every election, half the country feels disappointed and depressed.” This is perfectly normal. Democrats certainly felt this way when Donald Trump was declared the election winner in 2016, as well as when George W. Bush was named the election winner in 2000 by a U.S. Supreme Court decision, and again in 2004. In the cases of recent Democratic presidents like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, most Republicans did just fine. In fact, the economy performed very well, we had record job growth, the world respected America, and the stock market went way up.
—“We need to solve the COVID crisis together.” Of course, this talking point won’t work on the hard-core MAGA cultists who don’t think there is any COVID crisis. But for the drastically growing number of Americans who have been personally affected by COVID, whether as to their health, their jobs, their families, their daily lives, their interrupted plans for travel and family events or otherwise, the Coronavirus underlies everything. No rational Republican wants the pandemic to drag on to the end of 2021 or beyond. Joe Biden has announced that, even before he takes office, he will begin work immediately to try to tackle COVID. It’s worth Democrats asking Republicans if they can possibly work together toward this goal, which would help all of us and our families.
—“Can I help you get a stimulus check?” Let’s face it, very few Americans of any political persuasion would turn down free money from the government. Without playing the blame game of who has caused the delay in getting us a second round of Coronavirus stimulus payments (spoiler alert: it’s the Republicans), Democrats could approach Republicans, remind them that Black Friday and Christmas shopping is just around the corner, and ask whether they can work together to get those stimulus payments out of Congress and Donald Trump.
Most every Democrat will encounter situations in the coming days and weeks where they will engage with a Republican on the issue of the 2020 election and Donald Trump’s defeat. Listed above are just a few of the many ways that Democrats could talk to such Republicans, show some of that Democratic empathy, but not sacrifice their own values. Doing this may not bridge the great divide that exists in America today, but at least it won’t make it worse.
Photo by jihervàs, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/SLAN22
