Democrats are hypocrites without debates
Refusing to debate undermines Joe Biden's message about democracy
Contrary to what the party establishment wants voters to think, President Biden is not the only candidate in the race for the Democratic nomination. Progressive Marianne Williamson and noted anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr are vying for the unlikely opportunity to dethrone Biden from the Democratic ticket in 2024. Kennedy’s polling average is slightly higher than Williamson's at 14.6% and 5.6% respectively, though both are far from the president's 63.5% average. While a successful challenge is a longshot, Joe Biden and the Democratic party have a democratic duty to hold debates.
Biden announced his reelection campaign in a video centered around his mission to “defend and fight” for democracy. “Restoring and strengthening our democracy” is a prominent feature of the party’s platform, and was a moving argument in the 2022 midterms. Despite Democrats' claims of upholding democratic norms, President Biden and the party’s resistance to holding a primary debate counters their seemingly empty principles.
Williamson ran an unsuccessful campaign for the nomination in 2020, never polling higher than single digits. Williamson’s 2024 priorities include pushing for a Medicare for All bill, renewing President Franklin Roosevelt's “Economic Bill of Rights,” and taking bold steps against the threat of climate change, among several other progressive priorities. Williamson has been criticized as unserious for her career as a spiritual writer and advisor. The Biden campaign has not acknowledged Williamson’s campaign.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. the son of Robert Kennedy, and a disavowed member of the Kennedy dynasty, made a career as an environmental lawyer and a vaccine conspiracy theorist. Kennedy advocates for drawing down U.S. support of Ukraine, restructuring several administrative agencies, and reclaiming the Democratic Party. Last week the White House condemned Kennedy’s absurd statement that China bio-engineered COVID to racially target white and black people, sparing Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.
While the majority of Democrats deride Williamson and Kennedy as “unserious,” President Biden shouldn’t be treated like he doesn't need to earn the votes of Americans. A February poll found that just 37% of Democrats wanted Biden to seek a second term. Biden has the lowest approval rating at this point in his presidency since Jimmy Carter 44 years ago. Kennedy and WIlliamson combined are polling higher than any incumbent challenger since Kennedy’s uncle, Ted, challenged President Carter in 1980 (Carter refused to participate in a debate.)
Debates are an essential part of fair and open elections. They allow voters to hear from candidates and hold those in power accountable. By refusing to acknowledge any risk to his nomination, President Biden is insulting voters. Assuming it's a given, Biden has put little on the line to show voters he deserves their support. If Biden is the best candidate, why can't he prove it on a debate stage?
Voters aren’t dumb. If Robert Kennedy starts spewing baseless (and clearly absurd) conspiracy theories, viewers won't slip into vaccine denialism. Kennedy’s dangerous talking points could flip voters, but that's the risk of living in a free and democratic society. Most voters will hear Kennedy’s nonsense and be deterred from voting for him. Moderate voters might hear Williamson, and realize she’s too progressive for them. Democrats seek to manipulate electoral outcomes for their establishment, dismissing the intelligence of voters while claiming democracy as their core value, and in the end, creating a more conservative Overton window.
Refusing to hold a debate is, of course, not as serious a neglect of democracy as invading the U.S. capitol to overturn a fair election—an event that many leading Republicans continue to defend. Donald Trump has signaled he will refuse to debate his Republican opponents, and the Republican Party withdrew from the Presidential Debate Committee in 2021. All are disturbing disruptions to our democratic norms.
Debates are important to democracy, and Biden's refusal to participate in them undercuts the central message of his campaign. While it's not equal, or even close, to matching the threats launched by Republicans, it is yet another chip off the block of our democracy.
Agreed! Even if I wouldn't support the other candidates, their debates put other -- legitimate and not -- ideas on the table for public discussion.