Victory In The Midst Of A Dumpster Fire

By Susan Bergeron

I won! Some of those who have followed my journey throughout the year may be happy to hear I came in third out of 16 congressional delegates running on the June 2nd Rhode Island Presidential Primary ticket. I was shocked to see that I received more than 32,600 votes because I was listed, by lottery, dead last on the ballot. In the midst of such a terrible time for our nation, when my heart has been so heavy, it was sweet to feel the unexpected thrill of victory, to bask in a win! I had prepared myself for losing this race because my ability to campaign was cut short by the pandemic. I'd hoped that the video journal of my year with the Biden campaign, which I had posted on social media, might reach some voters, and that my earlier campaigning for Biden would carry me. Things got worse when I had to cancel my planned visit to the only two polling places open in town after a night of rioting in our capitol, Providence. The Governor imposed an early curfew, due to "credible intel" the state received about plans by anarchists who were on their way to my town, on Election Day, to blow up the local mall. National Guard tanks and soldiers replaced the normal Election Day sight of campaign trucks carrying their candidate's banners and American flags. 

Bernie Sanders remained on the ballot and I was worried because he won Rhode Island's Primary in 2016. This time he missed the 15% viability threshold by a hair, coming in at 14.9%. Had Sanders made the mark he would have skimmed off some of Biden's delegates. The whole point of Sanders remaining on the ballot was that, as previously stated, he wants the delegates for the DNC Convention this summer in order to influence the Democratic platform.

So where do I go from here? Many people ask me why the Democrats are bothering to have a convention if no one can beat Joe Biden now that he has the required 1,991 delegates. The answer is twofold: The Democratic National Committee rules that all fifty states convene all of their duly elected Democratic party's delegates, to vote as a unified body to formally elect him as the Democratic nominee. The second purpose is to form the candidate's platform. Up until this juncture, the candidate has been running mostly on this own ideas. But now, if the Democratic party is to throw their full weight behind a candidate, the person must be willing to listen to a compendium of ideas and plan for the future of the party and what they think is best for the country. After all, whoever wins the party's nomination becomes the titular head of the Democratic party. The platform is carved up through caucuses (smokey backroom meetings) during the four day convention. Delegates are honing it behind the scenes while all the passionate speechifying is happening on the convention floor.

This year's DNC Convention may break ground with tradition. We may have to hold a "Zoomvention." A virtual convention is something that would be completely new requiring a lot of technical difficulties to be worked out in a short amount of time. But the way I see it, by August 17 (the currently scheduled date), the pandemic may come raging back across the country due to weeks of massive protests we've had in the streets of every major city across our nation. I don't have any secret information to share with you on that decision. I've taken part in Zoom conference calls with other Biden delegates every week since May and there is still no decision yet from party Chairman Tom Perez. The Black Lives Matter protesters are a kind of "canary in the coal mine" for the ability of the Covid-19 to spread outdoors among closely gathered groups of people. 

Another issue that complicates having a convention is that Donald Trump keeps insisting on having the RNC Convention. He wants his balloon drop and big blowhard speech about how he's "won the war against the invisible enemy" (he hasn't) and how he's rebuilding the nation (he isn't). Democratic Mayor Dan Clodfelter of Charlotte, NC is engaged in a pissing match with Trump over social distancing involved in holding such an event in his city. Covid-19 is on the rise in North Carolina, but apparently, Trump forgot his own promise to the nation. When side-lining the Coronavirus Task Force and rolling out his "Open Up The Country" initiative, Trump declared, "If we have a few spikes here and there we'll knock them out---we know what to do now." Really? Is that what we learned? Is it a good idea to stuff thousands of sweating shouting people shoulder to shoulder into a convention center? If Trump forces a convention and then takes a lot of heat for it, how can the Democrats follow suit and not get hammered with the same criticism? Heavy is the head (Tom Perez) that wears that crown!

As I write this, Trump has just announced that he is going to start up his hideous hate rallies in two weeks. No surprise there. The workings of Trump's rat brain are often easy to predict. An obvious ulterior motive of his premature push to open up the country was his need to campaign. It is the life-giving force that propels an egotistical narcissist like Trump. The adulation, the shouting of his name, the waving of his banners are his political Viagra. In doing so, he is challanging his opponent to do the same---to hold rallies. Otherwise, it won't be as much fun! When Biden does not appear in public Trump accuses him of "hiding" in his basement. Joe is not hiding. He's been in self-quarantine with his wife Jill this spring, like most responsible people have been. He built a make-shift recording studio in the basement of his home in Wilmington, DE, so he could communicate with the American people under these unprecedented conditions.

Another event that traditionally takes place at the DNC Convention is the announcement of the candidate for Vice President of the United States. Some readers may remember that back in February I predicted it would be Senator Amy Klobuchar. I'm officially retracting that prediction. I still believe the two have a great rapport and that she would make a great Vice President, but the needs of the times have changed. The death of George Floyd has caused a seismic shift in the paradigm. Like tectonic plates heaving against each other, the millions of silent voices of minorities that were pushed underground in America for so long have finally resurfaced, causing a political earthquake. It is crystal clear to me now that America needs a minority Vice Presidential running mate to stand beside Joe Biden in their bid to win the American people's trust that they can unify us. Astute political journalist Zerlina Maxwell put it best when she said it wasn't true that race doesn't matter when it comes to choosing the presidential running mate and that simply understanding the needs and culture of minority Americans is not enough. "They must have the lived experiences of an African-American."

The minority people of America have pulled the Democratic party and Joe Biden up to an historical crossroad in our history. They cannot hope to show a serious intent to affect true change unless they include a representative of our long forgotten people in this political process. I'm ever hopeful that the Democratic party will do the right thing. It will truly be a magnificent victory for America. We will be proving to the world that we have not forgotten how to be leaders in this lively experiment we call democracy.