"Shut the F up"

The Democratic Party has a democratic deficit.

Despite poll after poll after poll after poll after poll revealing major misgivings among Democrats — and Democrat-leaning independents — about Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, powerful Democrats are not only unwilling to listen to those who would prefer a different nominee, but actively trying to smear and silence critics.

Yesterday, Ronald Klain — perhaps frustrated by the president’s weak standing in polls — retweeted a comment from Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) telling Democrats critical of Biden’s reelection campaign to “shut the F up.” Klain, of course, is one of the most powerful individuals in DC — Biden’s former chief of staff and most influential campaign adviser.

Former Joe Biden chief of staff and campaign adviser Ronald Klain yesterday suggested that Democratic critics of the president should “shut the F up”

This nasty comment came on the heels of Symone Sanders-Townsend, a 2020 Biden campaign adviser, saying the quiet part out loud about small-d democratic norms and the upcoming presidential election. (As you can see, her message was subsequently endorsed by Klain and Democratic Party Chairman Jaime Harrison.)

Joe Biden is the president of the United States of America. Therefore, the head of the party — that he is on the ticket of, he is a Democrat. And if the president of the United States of America can — is eligible to run for reelection and decides to do so — that’s your nominee, baby. That’s how it works. I know that might not sound democratic. But that is the game. That’s how it works.

Ronald Klain, Jaime Harrison, and Symone Sanders-Townsend believe that Democratic voters shouldn’t have a say about Biden’s reelection decision.

When powerful people tell critics to “shut the F up” and attempt to silence them, it’s clear that your political party is suffering from a democratic deficit, which “occurs when ostensibly-democratic organizations or institutions (particularly governments) fall short of fulfilling the principles of democracy in their practices or operation. Representative and linked parliamentary integrity have become widely discussed.”

Klain and Sanders-Townsend are products of this deficit. They are embracing it — with power and privilege — to mock, ridicule, sideline, and silence critics. Their anti-democratic behavior is dangerous for the Democratic Party and democracy.

If Donald Trump wins a second term, which will have profoundly negative consequences for Americans — and our geopolitical standing in the world — the Democratic Party’s democratic deficit will have played a significant role by having blocked a generic Democrat capable of beating Trump from replacing Biden as the party’s nominee.