I never expected to feel this way, but in our current situation, Biden seems like absolutely the right person to be our next president.
I started this primary season extremely enthusiastic about Kamala Harris’s candidacy. Smart, experienced, relentless in going after lying and cheating, caring, excellent legislative proposals on issues I care about deeply. She was a great candidate (and is a wonderful senator).
When she dropped out, I took a little while to get over my disappointment but, after considering the other candidates, I felt really good about Elizabeth Warren. Another great candidate (and great senator) with a lot of very smart policies, an expertise in dealing with financial corruption, a history of representing the concerns and views of a majority of people in our nation and an ability to relate to people in a very personal way.
When Warren dropped out I reluctantly decided on Biden.
Biden and Bernie had been pretty much tied toward the bottom of my ranking throughout the campaign. I like Biden, but as with Bernie, I thought he was too old and too tone deaf. I chose him over Bernie only because 1) Black voters chose him which is a huge recommendation and 2) I thought him likely to be more effective than Bernie.
But my reluctance has shifted as the incompetence of trump and his sycophants has brought this nation into an ongoing crisis with no end in sight.
I’m now seeing Biden as the candidate (of all our very good candidates) most able to take over and fix what’s wrong with our nation. He knows how to run our country. He knows how government works, what different agencies can do, and he believes in a government that is truly there to help people. He is surrounded and will be surrounded by smart, competent people.
For example: Ron Klain — a top aide to Biden during his Vice Presidency and someone I had little patience for when he was on my shows a year or two ago — now seems like a great example of the competent government professional we need for our response to the Corona Virus. Jared Bernstein, who was Biden’s chief economic advisor when he was VP, is a person I want involved as we climb out of the economic disaster we’re now in.
I have a doctorate in public health and we are in the midst of the worst public health crisis in my lifetime. The good news is I get to listen to and read articles by epidemiologists for hours. Epidemiologists have never been such stars! But trump and his sycophants don’t care what the epidemiologists are saying. They don’t care about people dying, especially if those dying are disproportionately POC and poor people and old people and low wage workers.
As someone pointed out on an MSNBC show a couple of nights ago, trump et al. have no goals, no strategy, and all their tactics are related to what trump thinks will get him re-elected or make him feel powerful and important.
I look forward to a Biden administration. Sure it won’t be perfect, but, at the very least, it’s likely to be competent. And it won’t be riddled with corruption and always promoting toxic views and policies. Biden’s long history as a senator and then as VP means he can start putting things in order as soon as he takes office.
So this awful pandemic has helped me appreciate Joe Biden and made me an enthusiastic supporter.