Kamala Harris: Reuniting the Donor Class, the Political Class, and the Democratic Base of the Democratic Party
Lucas De Hart details the crowning of Kamala Harris and the reinvigoration of a democratic ethos
On Sunday morning, I had a brief conversation with my girlfriend, who asked if Biden really was bowing out of the 2024 election. She couldn’t be sure if it was real and wondered who would replace Biden as the Democratic Party presidential candidate. I still hadn’t checked the news or gone on social media to see what the political commentariat had in store. I took a wild guess and said they would anoint Kamala Harris. Later, looking at the headlines, I saw the unification of the Democratic Party political class and the donor class. Within 24 hours, the establishment political machine lined up to back Harris as the presumptive nominee. As Liz Hoffman points out, the donor class has returned to life to support the corporate-friendly Harris after Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance and “great meltdown.”
Of course, it’s no coincidence that after the business class affirmed its support for Harris, the Democratic Party political class (indebted and dependent on the former) quickly followed suit. Harris fits perfectly into the Democratic Party’s liberal brand. Unlike Biden, her capacities and capabilities are all under control. Harris knows how to please progressives, and her political record mirrors Biden’s. One by one, Harris’s progressive policies during the 2020 primary are disappearing: goodbye fracking ban and universal job guarantee, to name a few. Harris’ foreign and domestic policy, along with her disdain for true democracy, are no different from Biden’s. Harris talks about “saving democracy” — a slogan that lacks substance and is really nothing more than a lazy marketing scheme crafted by anti-Trump liberals and conservatives. It’s impossible to “save” something that has never existed.
The donor and anti-Trump political classes need to maintain political control, and Harris is their best chance. Both classes must maintain the narrative of a healthy and beneficial constitutional regime. Again, Harris is their best chance. In fact, Harris may be more obedient to the demands of the donor and political classes because she has had less time to form an independent political doctrine.
The rousing support given to Harris so quickly will have to be paid back in dividends. She is Biden 2020’s second interaction, minus the minuscule legitimacy of a real primary now that the Demotica National Committee is depriving us of an in-person DNC shit-show. We are pieces on a chessboard that the political and donor classes move as they please.
However, heading into the general elections, it’s worth watching the reaction of the Democratic Party’s base. They recognize Harris’s undemocratic coronation and desire transformative democratic politics. They will grudgingly vote for Harris but see the Democratic Party as part of the problem and feel trapped and confined. The party’s base reflects the same democratic ethos described by my mentor and fellow writer, Gil Schaeffer.
Beating Trump is an important intermediary political goal. A Harris victory would be meaningful harm reduction. Still, the real target must be the authoritarian and undemocratic U.S. Constitution that gives the ruling class the power to checkmate the people at every turn while framing it as a win for all of us.
Followers of the blog know my view: America has never been a democracy. We must establish a democratic republic based on a unicameral House of Representatives elected based on one person, one equal vote. Only through a democratic republic can we protect universal and equal rights and advance as a society.
Conversations about democracy should be conducted among the Democratic Party’s rank-and-file. The demand for a democratic constitution must ideologically and politically split the Democrats.