Freelance Writer, Sociology PhD Student at UC Irvine
Freelance Writer, Sociology PhD Student at UC Irvine
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.
LOADINGERROR LOADING
As Donald Trump has passed his 200th day in office, many Americans are already sniffing out his 2020 Democratic challenger.
Kamala Harris, the newly-elected Democratic senator from California, has quickly floated to the top. Somewhat predictably, the Left has already turned into somewhat of a catfight over Harris’s liberal bona fides.
Advertisement
At issue is a report from January in which it was revealed that OneWest Bank had repeatedly broken foreclosure laws under the tenure of Steven Munchin, whom Donald Trump had recently nominated as treasury secretary.
A leaked document showed that California state prosecutors wanted to file a civil enforcement action against OneWest for “widespread misconduct.” Harris, California’s attorney general at the time, overruled that recommendation and declined to prosecute—she has yet to justify this or give a reason.
Make no mistake: OneWest should have been prosecuted. But, unfortunately, this case is far from unique. Illegal and immoral banking practices resulted in over 9.3 million people losing their homes.
Advertisement
That this case—and countless others—failed to be prosecuted is infuriating. That the men and women who broke the law to fill their pockets helped to trigger the Great Recession simply got to walk away from the rubble is maddening. That millions of ordinary Americans had to foot the bill is appalling.
But to focus this anger on Kamala Harris shows that the Left is repeating some of the behaviors that make problems like this harder to address.
The problem with a political outlook that focuses on the foibles of individual politicians is that it turns structural problems into personal problems.
The problems our country faces are not due to individual politicians’ failings, but due to widespread, entrenched, systemic rot.
Advertisement
That Harris failed to prosecute the rich and powerful despite clear evidence of wrongdoing doesn’t speak so much to Harris’s character, but to the deeply flawed system that make decisions like hers the default.
This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t be criticizing leaders for their mistakes. It’s more to say that the focus should not only on personalities, but also on issues.
Sadly, politics is (to a degree) a zero-sum game. Every breath spent on criticizing a certain politician is a breath that can’t be spent battling deeper underlying issues.
If we’re focused on the problems of a single individual’s past, we aren’t focused on finding solutions to the underlying issues that enabled those individual flare-ups to arise.
This is, in a sense, the mistake the Right made with Donald Trump. Trump is defined by a politics of personality—issues are almost never front and center.
Advertisement
Instead of centering his campaign on issues, he built his campaign on how Hillary Clinton (and an endless line of other politicians) were corrupt, weak, incompetent, etc.
While it’s easy for liberals to be unbothered that the issues of conservatives weren’t made front and center, the lesson crosses political lines.
Many of Trump’s supporters aren’t getting what they hoped for from his presidency. He avoided focusing on issues by instead focusing on other politicians’ (real or not) shortcomings.
The politics of the messiah simply won’t work. The problems our nation faces are far too systemic for any single politician to take them on singlehandedly. Furthermore, because the problem is so pervasive, even politicians with the purest intentions are unlikely to reach the highest levels of government without becoming tarnished by the dirtiness of the overall system.
Advertisement
So, yes, we should demand a system in which politicians like Harris consistently stand up for the American people. (And fortunately, we have some promising politicians—like Kamala Harris—who often do stand up for the majority of us.) But we should also remember that focusing on an individual’s failings obscures the structural issues at play.
Politics depends on both idealism and pragmatism. If the Left wants to win, it will eventually have to embrace both.
This post also appears on Medium. You can follow Canton on Twitter at@CantonWiner.
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.