Authoritarian leaders almost never leave power through election. In the 20th century, Generalissimo Francisco Franco took power after the Spanish Civil War in 1939, and left power only when he died in 1975. [Insert obligatory Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead joke here.] António de Oliveira Salazar of Portugal was in power even longer, from 1933 to 1974, when he was removed in a coup.
We had an authoritarian leader in this country from 2017-2021, or at least one who aspired to be one. The Former Guy openly spoke of his admiration for leaders like Xi Jinping and of course, his role model and enabler, Vladimir Putin.
- He wistfully fantasized about being elected for life.
- He equated White Supremacists with peaceful protestors.
- He flouted norms and surrounded himself with his family and sycophants, even when they could not pass a security clearance.
- He lied with impunity 30,000 times.
- He sacrificed hundreds of thousands of Americans to COVID because he feared appearing weak.
- He tried to use the military to quash dissent.
- He demonized not just people of color and migrantss, but the disabled.
- He tried to use extortion of a foreign leader for political purposes.
- And of course, based on one more lie, he still refuses to accept defeat and attempted a coup to stay in power.
And yet, he was voted out of office.
Why? Because of the superpower of the vote.
Yes, there were other contributing factors, including TFG’s incompetence as an authoritarian. But I don’t think people sufficiently appreciate the significance of our ability to remove him by turning out to vote. We are so used to peaceful transfers of power that Biden’s succession almost seemed like another in the 231 year run of electoral changes in administrations — even taking into consideration the attempted January 6 coup.
Why is it imporant to acknowledge this? Because this year we have to do the same thing: Turn out enough voters to keep the authoritarian Republicans out of power. And we can only do this because the 2020 turnout preserved democratcy . Yes, we’re disappointed about Build Back Better and we want student loans forgiven. We want voting rights passed and we want women’s bodies protected. We’re frustrated and angry about the power of two obstructionist Democratic Senators. Biden’s low approval ratings are the result of both Republicans who want to stop everything, and Democrats who are disappointed because he hasn’t done more.
But it’s time to treasure, appreciate and act on the Miracle and the Power of the Vote. No matter what our disappointments may be, we have to keep in mind the alternative if TFG won in 2020. I won’t write about it because even considering it is horrifying, but you know what it would have been like.
And the Voting Miracle continued into 2021 in Georgia. On January 5, 2021 the day before the failed attempt to kill democracy, the Democrats of that state again proved the power of the vote, even in the face of total control of the State by Republican vote suppressors, who had succeeded in seizing control in 2018.
Imagine if either Warnock or Ossoff had lost: No Justice Brown Jackson. Most likely no federal judges at all. No American Rescue Plan, or at most a severely watered down one. Same with the infrastructure bill. Probably Senate hearings on the “Theft” of the 2020 Presidential election.
So step back and appreciate the miracle of Biden’s overthrow of an authoritarian by election, and Warnock and Ossoff’s miracle of giving Democrats control of the Senate.
A large part of these miracles was the record turnout by young people. In 2020, 52.5% of voters 18-29 turned out, compared with 32.6% in 2018 and 43.4% in 2016. That 52.5% was a record turnout and made the difference in the election.
With the proper effort by all of us, this year can bring a Presidential year turnout among Democrats, including high school, college and late ‘20s voters.
So don’t forget to do what it takes to encourage massive youth voting, including efforts by Civic Influencers to help college voter activism and with The Civics Center for high school students.