Won't Work

When President Biden in May concluded a speech, delivered at a Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan, touting manufacture in the USA of electric vehicles, he concluded with "May God bless you.  And may God protect our troops.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you."

This was not atypical. President Obama would conclude his speeches with the likes of "God bless you and God bless the United Statesof America;"' "Thank you and God Bless you;"  "Thank you, Illinois. God bless. God bless this country we love. Thank you." Still, birtherism- which makes this notion a little odd:

Here is how to win some damn elections.https://t.co/WOrMX5s6YM pic.twitter.com/IvqrJLLWEn

— Noah Smith 🐇 (@Noahpinion) November 15, 2021

 

One tweeter responded "Wasn't that basically what the Clinton campaign was in 2016? If If you go back and rewatch the speeches from the convention, it's wall-to-wall patriotism. For that matter, it's not too different from the Kerry 2004 playbook." Another noted "Aren't both parties constantly appealing to patriotism? This premise makes no sense," and still another that both Biden and Hillary Clinton won a greater share of the two-party presidential vote than did John F. Kennedy

The premise not make sense. If looking for a patriotic President, look no further than

But I also wanted to put the world on notice: America is back.  America is back.  In the competition for the 21st century, the future will be built right here in America.

Look at this plant.  We’re moving.  We’re working again.  We’re dreaming again.  We’re discovering again.  We’re leading the world again.

We have shown each other and the world that there’s no quit in America.  There’s simply no quit in America. And that’s never, ever — it’s — every time I have these, sometimes knock-down, drag-them-outs with heads of state in private — they’ll say something, and I’ll say, “Look, it’s never been a good bet to bet against America.  Never, never, never.”

This patriotic rhetoric in Dearborn was linked to a policy objective:

Bottom line: The American Jobs Plan is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America — a blue-collar blueprint to build America.  (Applause.)  And we need automakers and other companies to keep investing here in America and not take the benefits of our public investments and expand electric vehicles and battery manufacturing production abroad.

Whether genuine or contrived, the image the "middle class Joe" (maybe his own characterization, but still) of "Scranton values" has cultivated is one of old-fashioned, can-do patriotism. It hasn't done much good.

On May 12, 2001, six days before Joe Biden vowed "there's no quit in America" and proposed a "blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America," 56% of respondents were reported as approving of President Biden and only38% disapproving. Nine months later, 45% disapprove of the President while merely 49% approve of him.

Nevertheless, "someone needs to try patriotism soon," argues Noah Smith, who is "on the progressive side of things myself."

But Democrats are associated with tolerance of racial and sexual minorities, immigrants, and (somewhat less) the underprivileged. They are not associated with nationalistic fervor, which Americans often misinterpret as patriotism. If a "patriotism first" Democratic Party arose, voters probably would not recognize and acknowledge it, let alone find it authentic.

 

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