Blue Voters Need Something to Believe In

Something Big.

Note to regular readers: In a mildly heretical Jan. 2 article dealing with the failure of the Democratic Party in the presidential election, I promised to file, within a week, another piece that described how they might have succeeded.

Then I got COVID-19. The kind where they make no promises and plug in a ventilator.

Then I got distracted by the mounting mayhem being driven by Donald Trump. The election that brought him back to power didn’t seem as compelling a subject as it had before. Discussing the bus ride to the carnival feels beside the point after the Ferris wheel has fallen down.

But, better late than never, here it is anyway.

An issue fit for Democrats to sink their teeth into was available for the 2024 election, but that issue was barely mentioned by Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, or anybody else.

Democrats need big issues nowadays. They can’t beat the lying and fear-mongering with a gentle nudge here and there. They want a hammer.

Keiser Sledge Hammer Model 10

The issue was forgiveness of college student loans. It could have been talked up every day for the last two years so that everybody understood it was expensive, but in everybody’s interest.

Explain why forgiveness isn’t a treat for an elite, but a boon for a whole country.

You don’t have to tell Generation Z. You don’t have to tell their parents – well, most of them. But you have to tell almost everybody else, because they usually don’t get the fact that most of those with college debt have paid off what amounts to the principal. The rest of what they owe – for 20 years more, on average – is because of high interest rates that were foisted on high school students or under-pressure parents.

We’ve got a couple of generations generously stocked with well-educated people so poor they can’t afford houses – or even rent – or used cars. We have more couch surfers than at any time in history.

Wouldn’t it be nice if suddenly, up to 45 million Americans had an extra $400 a month? Mostly non-fat cats who would pump it into the economy instead of the stock market or Crypto.

All of a sudden, American businesses would be selling more cars and houses. Parts for the cars and furniture for the homes. Refrigerators. Dishwashers.

You wouldn’t see as many vacant storefronts and crowded food pantries.

We wouldn’t have as many pissed-off people under 60 walking around being pissed off. We’d have more people feeling better about themselves, looking for partners to have sex with. More young people willing to start families. That means more workers to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes as the babies grow up.

Fewer suicides. More families that get along well. Less drug use and alcoholism. More kids going into the Peace Corps.

But the issue wasn’t really embraced. How neither party could look at the serious travails of millions of people under 30 and not pledge “This has to stop” is beyond me.

Biden tried to get it done, but not hard enough. This should have been his New Deal.

It’s an issue bigger than any candidate or election.

The party could have rallied around this very real problem and fought for its solution. It’s not like it’s a giveaway. I went to four years of college in the 1970s and covered all my tuition, books and some of the housing in six weeks of work during two of my Christmas breaks.

School is more expensive now. We’ve got to go to work on that, too. How can we let it go on?

But now we have to. The victory went to a party that’s all right with college being this hard to pay for. A party that’s too short-sighted to understand it’s needlessly impoverishing and embittering generations of Americans. Even if they’re among them.

Democratic leaders wouldn’t commit partly because they’re more focused on the horse race than the purpose of running in the first place.

It doesn’t look like that works anymore. Democrats can’t win with a Chinese menu of promises or by demonstrating the obvious corruption of Republicans. They need big, high concepts to lead a platform. Voters aren’t interested enough to spend much time pondering a decision.

They want a panacea.

It would have been better if neither Biden nor Harris had been running in 2024. Water under the bridge, for the White House and down the ballot, which had candidates who could have used a meaty issue to run on.

This was an issue that might have elected Democrats, but they’d have had to take a risk, and then come through upon victory. That’s not how they do things anymore.

And now, the problem is still out there, unsolved. It looks like we’ll see even fewer families started, and Social Security in even more trouble.

We’ll have more great old restaurants closing. Some automakers will go bust. Housing stock will expand, but not much will be affordable. Even more young people will be doubled up in stressful roommate situations. Working people will increasingly be among the homeless.

Suicides will continue to burgeon. So will a variety of crimes.

This was not just a squandered election opportunity. This was a big miss for the health of the population.

Political catch-up may start in 2026, but that doesn’t mean problem-solving will come with it. If past is prologue, Democrats might prevail, but they’ll do it with promises they won’t keep.

The country looks like it will come to hard times, and millions of young people will suffer, languish and grow bitter. Some will emigrate.

Much of this will happen quickly. You can tell because it’s already happening.

Democrats could have won the electoral fealty of millions of younger people who usually don’t like to vote at all. They might have voted blue for the rest of their lives.

But that ship sailed without a crew.

People say generations X and Z are stupid. What they are is cheated, and that went down before they had a chance to develop patriotism and loyalty.

Welcome to The Lost Generation 2.0.