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Many have warned that America’s reputation will take decades to recover from the stain of corruption and mismanagement left by the Trump administration. In some ways, that concern is overblown. But in other ways, it actually understates the challenge we face.
For example, consider first the task of restoring the reputation of the CDC, once the most respected public health organization in the world. Its credibility was all but destroyed by its leaders’ willingness to defer to Trump’s politically motivated demands during the pandemic.
This week, President-elect Joe Biden named Rochelle Walensky, a hero of the fight against AIDS, as his incoming CDC director. News of her appointment was quickly greeted by universally enthusiastic reactions from leading figures in the public health community.
Ashish Jha, dean of Brown’s School of Public Health, said the qualities needed to rebuild the agency’s credibility include deep public health expertise, an ability to communicate effectively, and the skill to run a sprawling organization. “Lots of people can do one of those…”
...he wrote, but “No one I know can do all three as well as Rochelle Walensky. When she takes the agency's helm in January, CDC pronouncements will instantly regain credibility.” Dr. Jha is right. The CDC’s tarnished reputation will not take decades, or even weeks, to restore.
People who depend on the CDC or any other branch of government have good reason to trust it when they know the right people are in charge, AND WILL REMAIN SO. The qualifier is important: It highlights the real threat to America’s reputation posed by Trump’s mismanagement.
It undercuts our ability to solve the most grave threats we face, which will require long-term international commitments. Potential allies have ample reason to be wary of climate agreements or nuclear treaties that a future American administration may simply walk away from.
Our challenge is thus even more daunting than it may have seemed, since one of our two major political parties has now conclusively demonstrated that promoting American interests is completely subordinate to its goal of acquiring and maintaining political power.
Unless and until we can convince the world that this party, as currently constituted, will not return to power, we will not be able to implement the kinds of cooperative international agreements we so desperately need. In principle, however, this is not a hopeless challenge.
After all, every plank of the rogue party’s platform—tax cuts for the wealthy, climate inaction, environmental deregulation, cutbacks in health coverage, and opposition to common-sense gun regulation, pandemic relief, and reproductive choice, is deeply unpopular with voters.
Few rational, well-informed voters would support candidates whose policies they oppose. Yet many voters are neither rational nor informed. And the business models of powerful institutions like Facebook and Fox News depend strongly on keeping them that way. https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224
There are also other obstacles, such as the bias in the electoral college and the gerrymandering of congressional districts. In short, reforming a rogue party in the current environment will be a far more difficult challenge than rehabilitating the reputation of the CDC.
It is not, however, an impossible one. The next test of whether we can meet it will occur a month from now in Georgia. Biden’s ability to build back better requires regaining Senate control in the Jan 5 runoffs there. If McConnell remains in charge, little progress will occur.
Flipping the Senate would free up the logjam of crucial legislation that McConnell has been blocking since the House changed hands in 2018. The impact on public attitudes about the value of competent, honest governance would be transformative.
But if McConnell survives as majority leader, gridlock will continue. And since the president's party gets most of the blame when things go poorly, the 2022 midterms would again be fertile ground for anti-government candidates. The stakes on Jan 5 could hardly be higher.
In Rafael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, Democrats have fielded two exceptional challengers. In contrast, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are two of the weakest incumbents in recent memory. Even so, to view winning both of these races as a stiff challenge would be an understatement.
Yet available evidence indicates that both races are close, and it would be a grave mistake not to make every possible effort to win them. If you're inclined to pitch in, I hope you'll consider joining me in supporting Stacey Abrams’ http://FairFight.org .
As FairFight demonstrated by its pivotal role in delivering President-elect Biden’s Georgia victory on November 3, this organization knows how to get the state's voters to the polls. https://fairfight.com/georgia-resources/
