Enough!

This was the rallying cry of nearly a million women who descended on Washington, DC, after Trump’s inauguration.

It has been the demand of African Americans and their allies after the police murders of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Philando Castille, and, more recently in 2019, Eric Logan, Willie McCoy, JaQuavion Slation, and Ryan Twyman.

It’s been the cry of teachers, auto workers, telecommunications employees, and grocery workers who walked off the job in 2019 to win better conditions and pay.

Enough! This also must be the rallying cry of voters as we head toward the 2020 elections.

Working-class people have had enough of working harder and harder only to bring home less and less, increasingly facing hunger and homelessness. They’ve had enough of policies that deliver all the wealth to the top 1% and the military budget.

We are horrified by immigrants being locked up in “detention centers” under inhumane conditions; the open racism against African Americans, Latinos and all people of color giving rise to physical attacks; the rollback of Clean Water Act rules that protect wetlands, one of over 100 attacks on environmental regulations; the reversal of workplace protections; the gutting of government agencies such as the USDA; and the appointment of over 112 federal judges, overwhelmingly white and male, some of whom have never tried a case before a judge.

This is a tiny snapshot of the problems within our borders. Then there is Trump’s foreign “policy,” a hodgepodge of actions that are interventionist, anticommunist, pro-nuke, and anti-environment, let alone self-serving.

The Trump administration operates on a few “principles”: make government work for the corporations, use racism and xenophobia to divide the working class, and rake in profits for Trump businesses, the emoluments clause be damned.

Trump and the GOP are particularly dangerous because they threaten our democracy, as bourgeois as it is. If not reversed, his administration represents a fascist danger. Why?

First, Congress effectively is no longer a coequal branch of the government. The Senate has relinquished its oversight powers and handed the reins of government to the president. Second, voter suppression, in the form of voter ID laws and purging of registered voters from the rolls, is increasing. Third, Trump attempts to pit one section of people against the other, fomenting hate and fear based on race, national origin, religion, gender and generation. Hate and fear threaten to paralyze and depress the vote, weaken the working class, and, worse, give hope to white nationalists and fascists. As we witness extreme right-wing elements on the rise in Hungary, Germany, Italy, and other countries, we cannot take it for granted that fascism will not take hold here.

Trump and the GOP are also a danger to the planet. The natural world cannot wait another four years for society to do a 180° turnaround on climate change. We cannot afford another Trump presidency or a do-nothing Democratic one, for that matter.

To be clear, this election is not about Trump the man. His control of the frightened GOP makes it seem like he is all-powerful. In fact, Trump is doing the corporations’ bidding: shrinking government “for the people,” reducing taxes, pushing privatization, and deregulating where possible. A defeat of Trump will spell a defeat for the capitalist class.

This is the reason the 2020 elections are important.

Despite these dire times, there is hope for our country and the world. It lies in the struggles of the multi-racial working class for a better future and sustainable planet, which have made recent gains. Along with the election of many outstanding, progressive women of color and others in 2018 and 2019, the increased activity has resulted in state and local legislation to raise the minimum wage, paid family leave for the armed forces, and local responses to the climate crisis.

Today’s upsurge reflects a broad democratic period, and within it a socialist moment. In reaction to the ugly realities of capitalism, support for socialism is growing, especially among young people.

This  desire for positive change is shown in the momentum and support for Bernie Sanders, as well as support for Elizabeth Warren, other women, and candidates of color, and in the pledge that after the primaries everyone must unite.

But the upsurge is not enough. It will take a movement of the broad left and the broad center to defeat Trumpism and put people and planet before profits.

And in this struggle, the 2020 elections are front and center.

Elections are a time when working-class people talk about the issues that affect them, demand that candidates respond, and consider new ideas. Elections motivate people to become active on their job, or in their neighborhood, school, or church community.

If union and people’s forces stick together in this election like never before and inspire a massive, collective turnout to the polls, it is possible to defeat Trumpism—in the White House, Senate, and state houses—and move onto the offensive for people’s needs. But it will take a united and determined effort to overcome voter suppression, demagoguery, and the domination of secret money in the elections and the media.

The Communist Party USA commits to doing everything possible in the crucial 2020 elections to stand strong for health care, education, housing, and good union jobs as basic human rights and for social, racial, and economic equality, environmental sustainability, a Green New Deal, and peace. We urge all progressive and socialist-minded people to bring these issues to the candidates at their rallies and town hall meetings. Register voters everywhere. Participate in GOTV activities like knocking on doors, calling voters, and driving people to the polls.

Come November, let’s pull out a massive voter turnout of youth, women, and people of color, union members, LGBTQ folks, and everyone to defeat Trump and his gang. Let’s move our country forward.

Image: Alisdare Hickson, Creative Commons (BY-SA 2.0).

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