More than two

After the election in November 2016, I was convinced that both major political parties in the United States had some serious thinking to do. In fact, I thought it was the opportunity to truly redefine American politics. The 2016 election should have been a shoe-in for Hillary Clinton. It wasn't. Many of the votes that were taken for granted -- especially the working class votes -- did not appear for the Democrats. The Republicans had to admit that there was more than a minor undercurrent of racism and sexism coursing through the party.

In 2020, the parties have not changed much. The Democrats are still not sure if they want to be the progressive party and if so, how progressive. The Republicans not only admitted the racism and sexism, they openly embraced them. The sexism was moderately offset by nominating and electing Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court but only after a display of hypocrisy and hyperpartisanship.

Joe Biden has won the 2020 Presidential election largely due to a coalition of moderate democrats led by Biden and Harris themselves, social democrats led by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her Squad, and moderate Republicans led by the Lincoln Project. Despite this win, it was not as decisive as it should have been. 70 million Americans still voted for Donald Trump despite the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, deteriorating race relations, and handling any opposition with derision, scorn, intimidation, bullying, and immaturity. I can understand that some of those 70 million voted for Trump because of his policies despite the tone in which he delivered those policies. Personally, I have not seen any policies from Donald Trump through his blustery tone. Every decision he has made has been to line his own pockets and stoke his ego.

A coalition has won this election and coalitions are going to be necessary from now on. The division in the United States has become increasingly evident in the last four years. Unity will bring health. But I propose to achieve this unity through even more division. I have jokingly (but earnestly) said that I do not vote along party lines, but I have never been known to vote Republican. I am sure a significant portion of the 70 million Trump voters feel the same way about Democrats. With only two viable parties, and "with us or against us" mentality and hyperpartisanship, the two-party system demands party loyalty even when the loyalty is only partly there. The United States is so diverse, with people of so many linguistic, cultural, religious, and personal heritages, it is hard to believe that voting sensibilities can only be in one of two camps. In a country where the free-market economy is theoretically driven by competition among a diversity of players (despite the reality of oligopolies), why must there be a choice of only two parties?

The Democrats have the Black Caucus and Black Lives Matter, those who say defund (and disband) the police and those who want police reform through sensibility training, those who want to support small and medium sized business and those who want more state support in healthcare, social security, and social services, those who want a Green New Deal and those who simply want moderate changes for an improve climate. As Representative Ocasio-Cortez said, in any other country in the world, she and President-elect Biden would not be in the same political parties. 

The Republicans cater to the ultra rich who inherit their wealth and those who play risky games on Wall Street. They also cater to the working class manual laborers who have lost their jobs and their industries to outsourcing and digital disruption. The Christian Coalition supports the Republican party as does several white supremacist groups. 

The United States is a diverse country and cannot adequately be represented by two parties. Even in the fierce competition of the business world, in recent decades many businesses have formed partnerships with their competitors for short and mid-term projects. The coalition that has been built to remove Donald Trump from office and bring Joe Biden in will need to continue. But first, both parties must clean up their houses.

As a far left progressive (at least in the United States. Elsewhere, I am center-left), I would like to thank the Lincoln Project for supporting a Democrat. Now leave. I have no ill intentions when I say that. Trumpism is still alive and well in the current Republican party and you have an unenviable task of trying to contain it. I recommend founding your own party, the Lincoln Party. Abraham Lincoln fought desperately to keep the United States together, succeeded and paid the ultimate price for it. He founded a party based on personal responsibility, a party that believed no human being should be subjugated to another. The modern Republican party believes that free enterprise can address the needs of the nation and the needs of its citizens and residents. Please, go and cultivate these values. Purge your party of the overt racism, sexism, and homophobia and downright hatred that is fuelled by Trumpism. If you feel that Christian values are inevitable drivers of your party, then by all means include them but please remember there are a multitude of religions and beliefs in the United States that might not follow the letter of the Old Testament that too many Chrisitans insist upon. Please also remember that Angela Merkel of Germany leads the Christian Democratic Union in German, a party that is ideologically aligned with the goals that Lincoln Project seeks for its party: while Ms. Merkel demonstrates Christian charity by inviting over 1 million refugees fleeing war and persecution, she never mentions God or religion in her policies.

Representative Spanberger said that the Democrats should never use the word socialist or socialism again. As a far left progressive, I say, fine, let's leave the party. Bernie Sanders demonstrated in 2016 and again in 2020 that he can garner a large portion of the left wing of the spectrum and the younger voters. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was able to unseat a 10-term incumbent of the Democratic party. She  went grassroots and knocked door-to-door. She had and continues to have a strong digital presence, appealing to younger voters. Immigrant organizers delivered Arizona, Stacy Abrams delivered Georgia with her grassroots doorknocking. I suggest we work with the Green Party who also have a social-democrat platform and support the Green New Deal. I think as a group, we progressives can hold and deliver the young, the urban, the people of color, and the climate activists. Let the Democrats focus on suburban white America. Let the Democrats form partnerships and coalitions with us to bring needed legislation and to elect viable candidates for President.

There are a lot of issues facing the United States (and the world) right now and Joe Biden does not have an easy task. Race relations are at their worst since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The pandemic is raging through the country, overwhelming hospitals: this is not the last virus, epidemic, or pandemic to face the world; there will be another within a decade or two. A permanent task force is necessary, bringing in resources from the departments of Health and Human Services, Commerce, Homeland Security, even the Department of Defence. The climate is not improving and the next generation will have to pay for the failure of my generation and the excess conveniences of the Baby Boomers. The climate presents a clear and present danger and all resources to fight it should be brought into force. The way education is delivered needs to be redefined, not only because of the pandemic, but also because the value of education is not sufficiently appreciated. Police reform and crime prevention are burning issues, literally in some cases. Resorting to violence either domestically with police or heavily armed protestors or internationally with using the United States armed forces as a means of foreign policy need to be reflected upon; more peaceful means must be possible. There is a growing gap not only between the super-wealthy and everybody else, but also between the nation’s cities and the rural communities.

How can this plethora of issues be resolved by a two party system? It is far too easy to say all Republicans are fascist racists and all Democrats are socialist free-loaders. The voices of significant groups of people such as people of color or Christians get dismissed as "special interests". Joe Biden's task will be to listen not only to the Republicans but also the left wing of the Democrats. He must listen and build a diverse nation of many richly diverse voices. It is now the time for the two party system to disband and more faithfully represent those diverse voices. Yes, it means a slower legislative process. But it also means leadership through consensus building and not through ego.

As ironic as it may seem, in this age of divisive tribalism, the best way to unite the United States again is to diversify into separate groups, all with a voice and with something to bring to the table, and all ready to compromise for the good of the country.