The Undecided Voter: Iconoclast Edition
Alan Dershowitz is trying to make up his mind.
Earlier this morning, I expressed my frustration with undecided voters in a race where the contrast between candidates is so stark. So, I was rather bemused to see the eminent legal scholar turned crackpot Alan Dershowitz take to the op-ed pages of the WSJ to ask, “Will I Have to Vote for Donald Trump?“
I’ve been a loyal Democrat since before I was old enough to vote—until last month, when the party’s convention in Chicago convinced me it had become too radical, particularly when it comes to Israel. I’m not a Republican, and I don’t want to vote for Donald Trump given his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, his personal attacks on patriots such as John McCain, and his threats to retaliate in kind for being prosecuted. The vice president will have to earn my vote. Here’s how she can:
• Publicly repudiate the claim by some fellow Democrats that Israel is engaged in genocide in Gaza. In the debate Tuesday, Ms. Harris gave her standard response to the question about the conflict: Israel has a right to defend itself but has killed too many civilians. She didn’t blame Hamas for using civilians as human shields. She affirmed that “I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself,” but she needs to state unequivocally that she won’t cut off or condition the military aid Israel needs in its legitimate efforts to counter the threats posed by Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iran.
• State unambiguously that she will never allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons. That entails a willingness to take all steps, including military, to prevent such a threat to Israel and the U.S. All previous administrations, including Barack Obama’s and Joe Biden’s, have made that promise.
• Stop pandering to anti-Israel extremists. Ms. Harris should offer a plan for protecting the civil rights of Jewish and pro-Israel students at universities that receive federal funding. She should show that she rejects the views of protesters who chant slogans like “From the river to the sea”—something Tim Walz failed to do when he said in a radio interview: “I think those folks who are speaking out loudly in Michigan are speaking out for all the right reasons.”
A lot of prominent older (he’s 86) liberals have moved away from the Democratic Party in recent years on the ostensible grounds it has become too extreme on social issues, notably trans rights and policing. But Derschowitz seems to be fixated almost entirely on our policies toward Israel.
I don’t have a strong sense of where Harris stands on these issues. That’s not a criticism. She’s in the awkward position of simultaneously running to be the Commander-in-Chief and serving as Joe Biden’s loyal understudy. She can’t easily separate herself from his policies.
She is trying to walk a tightrope: simultaneously condemning Hamas’s horrific attack of October 7, proclaiming Israel’s right to defend itself, and expressing concern for innocent Palestinians being slaughtered in the war. That happens to be exactly where my sentiments are. But turning those sentiments into practical public policy is a challenge, indeed.
But Derschowitz then pivots to more generic whinging about ideology.
More generally, Ms. Harris should push her party back toward its traditional liberal center and away from the illiberal left represented by such figures as Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. She said recently that she would put a Republican in her cabinet. It’s more important that she favor centrist members of her own party over the extreme wing.
Ms. Harris has an opportunity to help her party, our country and her electoral prospects by moving away from the extremist views she espoused when she ran for the 2020 nomination. She must persuade voters she is sincere.
As I noted in the above-linked post, I, too, am unsure where Harris is now compared to 2019. That’s clearly by design and, so long as she can get away with it, likely a shrewd choice on her part. Right now, moderates can tell themselves that she represents a second Biden term and progressives can tell themselves she’s really one of them.
Here, though, Derschowitz loses me:
American voters tend to be centrist, moderate and balanced. They reject extremes on all sides, including the strains that have recently influenced both parties. The party that makes clear to voters its determination to move back to the center will have an excellent chance of gaining the support of undecided and independent voters like me.
So far, Mr. Trump seems to understand this better than Ms. Harris does. He has moved his party toward the center on abortion, gay rights and foreign policy (though her views on abortion are closer to my own). He better reflects the views of American voters like me on Israel. I still don’t want to vote for him. I hope Ms. Harris doesn’t leave me without a choice.
For fuck’s sake, man. There has never been a more extremist major party nominee for President than Donald Trump. He repeatedly spouts eliminationist rhetoric. But, hey, he moved the embassy to Jerusalem so I guess that makes up for it?
Indeed.
Further, Derschowitz has been an FNC darling for years. And let’s not forget he defended Trump at his second impeachment trial.
This all feels like disingenuous “look at me” posturing.
It’s very generous to treat Dershowitz’s op-ed with such respect, when it really only comes down to three words:
“Pay attention to me!”
Remember, Mr. D’s last big foray into opinion journalism was a lengthy screed complaining that he stopped getting invited to parties on Martha’s Vineyard once he was perceived as supporting Trump.
@wr:
Jinx! (Well, close enough)
As contrast, the NYT has an interview with Robert Caro today in connection with an exhibit at the NY Museum of History commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of The Power Broker which goes to prove that it’s possible to maintain one’s dignity and intelligence as one nears 90 years old. Something Dersh and Trump have been fighting to disprove…
An American citizen was just murdered by the IDF in cold blood in the West Bank, and neither Biden nor Harris seems to care past a few empty statements. Dershowitz and his brand of extremist know this. What they want is what the GOP wants–open the laws to go after any kind of funding of pro-Palestinian activism and speech.
I think 25% of Dershowitz’s schtick is based upon the fact that in the end, he’s the guy who got ‘massages’ from Jeffrey Epstein’s underage sex slaves. And there’s no erasing that accomplishment from your CV.
Maybe he needs a massage in his undies to clear his mind.
@Modulo Myself:
That is an assertion. One that is disputed by the US’s ally, Israel. It may be true (it wouldn’t surprise me) but it would be absolutely inappropriate for the US Government to do anything other than call for investigations and offer condolences.
@Modulo Myself:
I don’t know. If there’s ever evidence that it wasn’t just massage, I think everyone will forget about the massages.
His claims seem about as genuine as Bill Clinton’s “I didn’t inhale”
I’m sorry your news sources have done this to you. Perhaps try to get not only both sides, but original sources to help you make better determinations.
In any case, the parties are realigning. Harris now has Darth Cheney and Mitt Romney on her side. Many are finding they either must actively evaluate or engage in self delusion about where their is candidate now.
Who are the undecided voters? The Alan Dershowitzes of this earth. That’s all you need to know about them.
And this is the perfect example of the Trump voters I was talking about who pretend to be undecided to screw with people.
@JKB:..I’m sorry your news sources have done this to you.
Nobody wants your pity.
@Steven L. Taylor: Dershowitz is pretentious dishonest pond scum.
Whatever our political and other diferences, I am sure there is consensus here.
@Slugger: That is exactly the error that leads you people to lose\, prelosing by making writing off the heathens.
The Dershotwitzes are the online preeners and posturers.
The undediceds in mass represent far more than the preening posturers.
Continuously ceding the battle is precisely how you have shrunk your game. It is an own-goal habit.
@Mister Bluster:
“Nobody wants your pity”
JKB’s sense of clueless irony, on the other hand, would make an excellent specimen for scientific research.
@JKB: Harris now has Darth Cheney and Mitt Romney on her side.
I’m sorry, no. While there does appear to be realigning going on, that Dick Cheney and Mitt Romney are voting for Kamala Harris doesn’t mean they’re Democrats. They aren’t on her side.
What they have said is that, while they have major policy differences with Kamala Harris, they trust that she’ll govern with what she sees as the best intentions for the country as a whole. That she believes other people exist, and they matter. And that she’ll respect the results of the election, now and going forward. They will vote for Harris, and then, after she’s won, go back to opposing her policies. They’re not on her side. They’re against Trump. There’s a big difference.
There has been a slow moving realignment percolating under the political floor which is finally showing its face. It is still hard to discern but it has to do with a post-liberal/conservative dichotomy. As Rep. have shed issues such as deficits and having a muscular foreign policy (and Dems. picking up the pieces), it cannot be said that either party is conservative or liberal. The consequences of this is that attacking Harris as being too liberal has become irrelevant and slightly unhinged. This is seen better by younger voters who I believe will have a strong presence this election.
It would seem Dersh would have the US become a dictatorship if that would better serve Israel, and that might be the case, but I suspect his concern is actually his own legal troubles, and how easy it is to get a pardon from Trump, all you have to do is publicly praise him.
@JKB:
Is it possible to die of irony? If so, I need to dial 9-1-1 immediately…
@JKB:
First accurate thing you’ve said in a while.
On the one side: unlikeable weirdos, extremist schmucks, angry incels, and unhinged bigots running around screaming about black immigrants stealing and eating cats and dogs. A basket of deplorables.
On the other: decent patriots of all backgrounds and ideologies, united across the political divide to protect Western democracy from MAGA neofascism and its rapist thug leader Trump — an Epstein-bestie, Putin-puppet criminal, crybaby, liar, and loser.
Good point, homie. Cheers!
Well, I’m not sure I would sign on to Trump being the most extreme president ever. He tells whoppers the most, and he’s the most narcissistic, yes.
He probably isn’t the most racist president ever. I mean Woodrow Wilson showed “Birth of a Nation” at the White House. For instance. And consider this, about James Buchanan’s campaign:
I mean, those were nasty times:
@Jay L Gischer:
In the modern sense of racism, no one beats Woodrow Wilson. That evil SOB set the nation back years in terms of race relations including resegregating the armed forces.
And yes JKB he was a Democrat. I am willing to call out my own party from… Checks notes 100 years ago. Looking forward to seeing how you feel about Trump and Vance’s racism that is impacting the nation as I write this.
@Jay L Gischer:
Mmm. Context does matter. The Birth of a Nation was a nationwide blockbuster — it was the highest-grossing film history (in total inflation-adjusted revenue) as late as the 1960s when was finally supplanted by Gone With the Wind and Sound of Music re-releases. So Wilson was racist af, but America was racist af. We have presidents who were slaveowners. Slavery was amoral even then — but legal and normalized.
Is Trump the most racist in absolute terms? No. But in context, relative to the civic norms of his day? Yes.
On 28 June 2020, Trump tweeted out a video of one of his supporters yelling, “White Power!” Would dog-whistling Reagan have done something so blatantly, publicly racist in 1985? How about Nixon, another expert dog-whistler, in 1970? Eisenhower in 1955? Hoover in 1930? No, no, no, and no. I mean hell, even Wilson’s now-infamous screening took place in a private room.
Trump’s blatant, unfiltered, public racism is the kind of stuff George Wallace ended up renouncing — shocking from a US president. And, importantly, Trump’s doing this in 2024. Gross.
@DK:
Yes and even still by the standards of the day Wilson still a world class racist. Honestly on the list of racist things he did, screeninh “Birth of the Nation” doesn’t even crack the top 10.
@SKI!:
She was shot in the head by the sniper while doing nothing. Or did her head just do that on its own? Anyway, I’m sure the IDF will get to the bottom of it in a timely manner with their ally asking the right questions and people like you will continue to be no different than the Holocaust-denying dipshits who have a few questions about the real narrative.
Alan is still suffering PTSD because he’s not being invited to gatherings when he’s summering in Martha’s Vineyard.
@JKB: