Stuck in the middle with you

The current political changes unfolding in the United States are monumental. In many ways, the two parties are swapping long-standing platforms and altering their historic identities.

Both parties are also embracing candidates and agendas that they once disdained or mocked in the run-up to the 2024 Presidential Election.

Donald Trump’s takeover of the Republican Party is nearly complete. Although Trump was once a Democrat, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is highly litigious, and is at odds with the party’s history of social conservatism – he has come to embody the biggest movement in Republican politics since Ronald Reagan.

Trump has somehow escaped the events of January 6th, 2021 – something that would have been unimaginable for any other President in the modern era.

Reagan, in comparison, was squeaky clean and had a righteous demeanor. And unlike Reagan, Trump is an isolationist. The defeat of the Soviet Union and triumph over Russia in the Cold War was Reagan’s crowning achievement. America’s success came through military spending, pure and simple. The Russians could not keep up with American’s military budget and were threatened by NATO – leading to the collapse of the Iron Curtain.

Now, the Republican Party is moving away from military standoffs with Russia and Trump has indicated that Ukraine is not our concern, and that NATO might be scrapped altogether.

And talk of supporting Democratic governments abroad is completely out of the vernacular used by MAGA Republicans. At the CPAC convention last month, which showcases the right flank of the party, several speakers dismissed the word “Democracy.” Jack Posobiec, a far-right speaker who endorses Trump and the MAGA movement, said that his goal is to “overthrow democracy” – which was met with loud cheers.

Democrats are in a similar spot. Since the 1960s, segments of the Democratic Party have pushed for less military spending and fewer wars. The left flank of the Democratic Party has long pushed to curtail spending at the Pentagon and ridiculed the CIA, FBI and Department of Justice for unfair or illegal practices – something they have seemingly abandoned in recent years. Democrats once touted the needs of Americans and priorities that exist inside of our borders. That agenda belongs to a bygone era for Democrats.

And while Democrats are more than happy to take money from labor unions and tout the struggles of the middle class, they have done very little to address the needs of working people. The exodus of lower income working families from the Democratic Party has left their leadership dumbfounded. They cannot understand how this could have happened – after decades of failed promises and ever-growing wealth discrepancies have alienated voters.

It is hard to say who Democrats are fighting for. Increasingly in recent years, Democrats have focused on the rights of marginalized groups, a small percentage of the population, and ignored the needs of the masses.

And this is not a peacenik party. Conflicts and military spending have grown under consecutive Democratic Presidents – from Clinton, Obama, and now Biden, who famously voted for the war in Iraq. Funding for the war in Ukraine had bi-partisan support in 2022 but is now becoming a Democratic party priority. Biden’s embrace of Netanyahu after the October 7 attacks in Israel showed that the United States shared their grief – but also endorsed their war with Hamas, that has now killed more than 30,000 people in Palestine. The United States has taken a back seat to the conflicts in Ukraine and in Israel – while keeping the checkbook open. Biden’s administration has not threatened to hold back military aid or support for either country or set clear demands or prerequisites. Biden has also not aggressively sought a diplomatic solution in either conflict or engaged with counterparts to find political solutions and compromise. The U.S. has also opposed numerous cease-fire proposals in Gaza at the United Nations.

And while Democrats openly questioned Reagan’s mental competency in his second term, they take great offense when anyone asks about Biden’s.

For those of us who don’t identify with either party or candidate or party at this time, it is an awkward spot. I’m reminded of the song “Stuck in the Middle With You,” clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right.

I once worked with a guy from Iran, and I remember asking him about the differences between the people in Iran and the Iranian government. Contrary to popular belief, most Iranians are not extreme or as socially conservative as their neighbors in Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan. My co-worker told me something that I will never forget: “our leaders in government are a lot like yours – they pretend to have the voice of everyday people but they do not – both of our countries deserve better.”