The Debate

But I'm still voting for Biden

I know, I know. I couldn’t even watch I was so nervous about it. And all our fears came true.

But I have to remember, Biden is the most progressive President since FDR. His courageous, groundbreaking legislation brings hope to the fight against climate change. Those ninety minutes don’t sum up his whole presidency.

Hitler was a very effective public speaker. Let’s look deeper than that. Maybe Biden is too old, maybe he should have stepped aside—but that ship sailed a long time ago. Let’s deal with the reality we have.

The thing is, now what?

Here’s what my favorite political commentator, Jay Kuo, has to say:

“The polls after the debate nearly uniformly show no movement or slight movement toward Biden. Very few people actually watched the debate this time. People are reading instead about what the candidates said, and Black and Latino voters are very angry about Trump’s claim that Mexican immigrants are taking “Black Jobs.” Social media is filled with people completely mocking him for this. That is actually causing a shift among the weakest parts of the Biden coalition—young minority voters—back toward Biden.

There is also the practical question. Joe Biden would have to voluntarily step aside. That is highly unlikely to happen, especially now that the NYT editorial board said he should. He would rather prove them wrong. He wants to show that his four years as president aren’t defined by those 30 minutes in the debate where he was not up to par.

People who say that there’s no way Biden can beat Trump now aren’t looking at the data coming in. People who say he should be replaced don’t understand the mechanism by which that could happen—a near impossibility without Biden’s cooperation.

Even if Biden stepped aside, you’d almost have to give it to Kamala Harris, or you lose all that money ($200 million) and you start a divisive battle right when the party should be unifying.”

Unifying. That’s our only hope right now. As Benjamin Franklin observed: “We must all hang together or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

I’m voting for Biden.

Dear Friends,

Are you more than a little worried about the election of 2024 and wondering what to do about it? I hope you’ll continue to check out The Optimistic Activist.

Every Tuesday I post some ideas for doing something. How to get out the vote, spread the word, and support progressive candidates. Ideas for simple but effective activism. As easy, as practical, as do-able as I can make them.

Together, I think, we could really make a difference.

                               “Optimism is a strategy for making a better future.”

                                                                 --Noam Chomsky