“When they go low, we go high”
“. . . the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”
When Harriet asked me to consider writing something for this newsletter, I thought immediately of a quote from Michelle Obama in her speech to the 2016 Democratic National Convention: “when they go low, we go high.” I was inspired by those words eight years ago and liked to think that Ms. Obama identified a central difference between the two major parties.
The level of political dialogue since then led me to question the degree to which “when they go low, we go high” still applied. Levels of “going low” increased during the last eight years, and while Democrats have certainly not reached the levels of Donald Trump or other Republicans, I am troubled by the deterioration in civility in both parties.
Another quote by a Democrat applies to the situation we find ourselves in today, this one by Franklin Delano Roosevelt during his first inaugural speech on March 4, 1933: “let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
While FDR warned that fear can “paralyze,” we have tragically witnessed the use of fear to advance an agenda that only creates more fear and hostility. Bob Woodward (of Watergate fame) wrote three books about the Trump administration, and titled the second book with one word: “Fear.” Woodward chose this title based on a quote from Trump during the 2016 election: “Real power is — I don’t even want to use the word — fear.”
Trump’s use of fear is on full display with many of his speeches, translating fear into hate with attacks on immigrants, “woke” educators, “Communists, Marxists, fascist radical thugs,” and (fill in the blank). This is deeply troubling, particularly when such terms suggest justification for political violence, as Trump has expressed to justify the violence of the January 6 insurrection.
There is nothing I am aware of among Democrats that comes close to this level of unadulterated hatred for “the other side,” but for us as Democrats to remain consistent with Michelle Obama’s aspiration that “when we go low, they go high,” we must embrace a higher standard. Most recently a rather innocent example of name calling was expressed by Governor Tim Waltz of Minnesota, referring to Mr. Trump and as his accolades as “just plain weird,” a term that has gone viral. While this seems innocent in comparison to Mr. Trump’s demonization of anyone who disagrees with him, it still does nothing to inform voters of policy issues and solutions, and violates Michelle Obama’s plea to “take the high road.”
For me, a more serious violation of Ms Obama’s hope concerns suggestions that Mr. Trump will bring fascism to the United States. If there is anyone who is as troubled by the prospect of fascism as I am, please contact me so we can work together to prevent such a future, but please be more specific than “fascism” about what this entails, evidence of Trump’s support for these, and his ability to enact such policy. I appreciate that there are reasoned responses to these specifics that are alarming, but I prefer to begin with that reasoned discussion rather than changes of “fascism” that generate fear rather than reasoned discussion.
For example, a prominent Republican recently celebrated the fact that a Trump presidency would take the United States back to 1960, which (on the surface) seemed to be consistent with hopes of Mr. Trump. Some (myself included) were deeply troubled by that prospect, but then I asked myself: what was the chance that a Trump presidency could bring us back to this understanding of the “good old days” of 1960? In a Trump presidency, would voting rights of Blacks (Enacted by the 24th Amendment in 1964 and codified with the Voting Rights Act of 1965) be eliminated? No. Would bans on interracial marriage (declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Loving v Virginia in 1967) be resurrected? Ditto, no way. Would women in all 50 states lose their right to choose an abortion? Keep in mind that abortion was not legal in any state in 1960. The first state to legalize abortion was California (in 1966) and four others (Alaska, Hawaii, New York and Washington) legalized abortion between 1967 and the 1973 Roe v Wade decision. I am a strong advocate of a woman’s right to choose, but I request that you not try to strike fear into me and others by suggesting that Trump’s election would bring us back to 1960 on the issue of abortion. How about gay marriage, illegal in all states in 1960, and legal in every state today, following the 2015 Obergefell v Hodges decision? Is there anything in the 2024 RNC platform about “take us back to 1960" on gay marriage? Nary a word. Fear that a Trump second term would take us back to 1960 regarding these issues is not simply supported by the evidence. We should avoid such appeals to fear and remember FDR’s plea: “the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself,” and Michelle Obama’s plea: “When they go low, we go high.”
We could similarly apply Michelle Obama’s admonition to responses to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. While reports of it are certainly troubling, before we go into “fear”mode, it is worth contemplating four questions: (1) are reports of its contents accurate? (2) to what extent does Donald Trump embrace or reject those contents? (3) to what extent would he have the power to implement these plans? And (4) what can I do individually as a member of the Crawford County Democrats to thwart those plans?
Like many Crawford County Democrats, I am deeply troubled by actions Trump could promote in a second term, such as politicizing the Justice Department (as proposed in Project 2025), gutting environmental protections, inhumane border/immigration policy, tax cuts for those who do not need them, compromising health care and on and on, but I believe deeply in my heart that the antidote to those well-founded fears is not more fear. The antidote is compassion. Compassion for “the least among us,” and then the commitment to act to promote the interests of one and all. To those ends I would suggest that we appreciate as our guiding lights expressed both by FDR and Michelle Obama: “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” and “when they go low, we go high.” Or, as written by Heather Con Richardson on July 28, “It is up to us to decide whether we want a country based on fear or on facts, on reaction or on reality, on hatred or on hope.
Sincerely,
Mark Peterson
