DUELING COLUMN: Why I’m Voting For Joe Biden

Robert Crohan/Staff Writer

This is going to be the most important election in our lifetimes. Donald Trump has created an administration like no other, robbing families of much-needed money, tarnishing our reputation on the world stage, making corruption the new normal, implementing economically disastrous policies and demonstrating blatant xenophobia. We need a leader with experience, determination and persistence to bring our country to a new place of justice and pride. 

Although I greatly admire Senator Bernie Sanders and almost every other Democrat who ran for president this cycle, I believe that man is former Vice President Joe Biden.

Biden represents the classic ideals of America: freedom, hard work and decency. 

He grew up in Scranton in a financially struggling family, with parents who motivated him to “get back up” in the face of bullying for his speech impediment. On the campaign trail, he took a very folksy approach, talking to voters about the issues they face, especially in communities of color, all while avoiding attacking other Democrats and keeping the focus on defeating Trump. 

As vice president, Biden helped pass the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the U.S. and Russia and negotiated a fiscal bill cliff with Senator Mitch McConnell to divert another 2008-esque crisis, which he helped resolve, building the strong economy of today that Trump has wrongfully claimed credit for. He also led a special task force on gun control after the 2012 shooting in Newtown, beating the NRA  twice. 

This is someone who has evolved as an individual. His policy platform represents this as well: he supports a $15 minimum wage, reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, eliminating local housing regulations that promote discrimination, fighting the effects of gentrification, creating union jobs and supporting union power, rebuilding our infrastructure, reviving DACA and understanding the underlying issues facing disenfranchised communities and developing nations. 

This is not an election to experiment. While Sanders excites many young voters and blue collar workers, they have yet to create the “revolution” he is advocating for, as Super Tuesday demonstrated when Biden brought out millions of African American and working-class suburban voters to the polls. Biden is also the more popular candidate among constituencies that vote in higher numbers: older voters, suburban college-educated white voters and the working class.

A candidate that excites the left could be even more effective in exciting the right. In polling, Biden is the only Democrat winning in Texas, Michigan, Florida and other swing states on a consistent basis. Many swing voters are turned off by some of Senator Sanders’ ideas. 2018 saw the election of mostly moderate Democrats to the House of Representatives, while most losses were by progressives.

Here at FIU, we value diversity in thought and background, and we all know someone who is very different from us, who likely inspired us to learn and make change. Biden was motivated to run after the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville which showcased the worst in our country. 

Voters in America are tired of division. They are tired of hate. They are tired of hearing about the president’s incompetence on a daily basis. We need someone who can bring us together as a launch pad to progressive change. Biden’s slogan is “soul of the nation” for a reason: he wants to bring people together not just to win their votes, but to heal a wounded nation—our nation. 

Through bipartisanism, conversation and inspiring change, Joe Biden is the right man to beat Donald Trump and restore our republic.

Featured image by Gage Skidmore on Flickr.

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