I somewhat agree. The speech should have solely focused on competing ideas, not competing groups of people. Mentioning groups/names was a mistake IMO.
I'll answer that. Your schtick is extreme partisanship and insults while accusing those who don't agree with you of extreme partisanship and insults.
I’m certainly no fan of most of the trend of Trump’s party, so I can definitely understand this exasperation. That said, I’d personally prefer to bring these people back home than to go to battle with them. If Trump got elected again, I’d find it terribly saddening. If that happened during a vicious culture war, I’d also wonder if it was preventable.
Side note: If you can look past my “schtick”, I’m really a very affable guy. And of course I’m not watching Biden read a teleprompter written by AOC and Bernie.
I don’t like the idea that one side can hold a monopoly on truth, but I am sympathetic to your second point. I do think it’s a tall order to unify everyone. Still, I think it’s much easier to demonstrate that you’re open to it. This is one thing I never liked about Trump. From the beginning, it was a battle and he said his supporters will end up be tired of winning, clearly signifying the other side will be losing. Trump was not a unifier, fine, but what’s not fine is he never had any intention of being one. I really hope the democrats don’t come to copy that model of campaigning.
We’ve always had the MAGA types with us and probably always will. Remember that 60’s tv show called Drag Net? They would go after what they called super patriot groups, you’d see the same thing on Walker Texas Ranger, so the problem has always been here. What’s changed is the internet, cable TV, and FoxNews to help them out in recruiting. They’ve managed to homestead in Republican territory and have now taken over. In their mind there’s no going home because they’re already there in the Republican Party.
I actually watched the speech and while he did call out Trump and MAGAs by name he also said that Americans are better than that. He did make a point to mention that not all Republicans are MAGAs and he appealed to the importance of protecting our democracy. Bottom line, you can't negotiate with (domestic) terrorists or toddlers.
There are those who stand by and watch the schoolyard bully beat up those unable to defend themselves, but when someone bloodies the bullies nose bringing tears to his eyes they jump in to help the bully.
There is no neutral arbiter of the "truth," so it is necessarily going to be contested in the public sphere, which is why you don't cede that to the people who think elections were stolen or pizza restaurants are doing child trafficking with congressmen. And to contest the truth, you have to state things as they are, not pussyfoot around the subject, which basically projects lack of confidence, commitment, or maybe avoiding the truth yourself. That being said, the speechwriters were very careful with who they pointed their finger at.