Joe Biden: Not the Candidate America Deserves, but the One it Needs Right Now
In Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, Jim Gordon says that while Batman is the hero Gotham deserves, he’s not the one it needs right now. The opposite is true for Joe Biden. America is politically disillusioned, and has good reason to be. The long ignored injustices that formed the foundations of American society are being brought to light, and it’s not just bad news for Republicans, but for Democrats too. Establishment politicians in the U.S. have long since accepted that electability requires not disturbing that status quo, which has left many voters to believe that there is no one brave enough to represent their interests at the heart of the Democratic Party. Whether it is criminal justice reform, environmental policies, or with whom he is willing to get into bed to make a deal, progressives argue that Joe Biden falls short. However, with only a few short weeks until the election, how strong is the case for the American people to pledge their vote to him and not just spoil their ballots?
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. has long been considered a moderate, establishment democrat; a relic of the 1970s politics in which he got his start. Most know him best as Vice President Biden; in 2008, his experience was tapped to balance the ticket of a young, first-term Senator from Illinois: Barack Obama. Together they made it all the way to the White House. But the septuagenarian has done and been a lot of things in his long political career, with many decisions, connections, and mistakes coming back to bite him.
In his 36 years as a Senator, Biden voted on many issues that are still relevant today; most notably the Anti-Drug Abuse Act. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 was a characteristic bill of the War on Drugs, of which Biden was a strong proponent. The Act created a disparity in sentencing between users of powder cocaine (who were mostly white and given light sentences if charged or sentenced at all) and crack cocaine (largely black and given much harsher longer sentences). In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, this Act is being criticised as thinly veiled racism contributing to the increased incarceration of young black men that continues to this day. Biden has since acknowledged the effects of these drug laws and vocally supported the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which aimed at reducing that disparity, yet many critics argue that the damage is already done.
Biden’s less than progressive stances do not stop there; he supported “don’t ask, don’t tell” and the repeal of Roe vs. Wade, while opposing same sex marriage in his vote for the Defence of Marriage Act and a single-payer healthcare system. Additionally, he championed the Iraq War. This adds up to a voting record that you wouldn’t be blamed for attributing to a Republican. This policy history is perhaps best summarised by his close friendship with Senator Strom Thurmond. an active and impassioned segregationist who broke the record for the longest filibuster by a single senator by speaking for over 24 hours in an attempt to block the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Biden has reversed his position on many of these issues (though not his friendship with Thurmond, at whose funeral Biden gave the eulogy); however, it is understandable that people question whether this so-called ‘centre-left’ politician’s leanings are too right wing to represent the American left in 2020.
In the past few months, America has faced a reckoning and what it needs is a more progressive candidate. America deserves a candidate that won’t respond to the awful forest fires in California by bending to the whims of big corporations which mediate his climate policy, a candidate that will actually consider taking steps towards defunding the police or abolishing private federal prisons without dismissing them outright for fear it will scare away moderate voters. Really, what America should have is a new candidate, someone who is not just a return to ‘normal’ after the horror show Trump Administration, but someone who actually brings something new to the table, meeting this moment in America. But Joe Biden is what they have, so what reasons are there to vote for him?
There is, of course, the argument that anyone is better than Donald Trump. And although it is depressing to think that the bar has become so very low American politics, it is a valid argument. How many more years of a Trump presidency can the most vulnerable survive? Many are already dying due to the effects of his shambolic response to the Covid-19 pandemic, his promotion of conspiracy theories, and anti-mask rhetoric. As a result, it is likely the pandemic will be going on for a whole lot longer in the U.S., and it certainly isn’t going to get much better under the current leadership. Biden has an aggressive and comprehensive plan to tackle both the public health and socio-economic impacts of the coronavirus to try and contain a situation that has grown wildly out of control. Another global crisis the next President will have to tackle is climate change, and Biden has a plan that aims to “put the United States on an irreversible path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050”. Encompassing the time frame and main aims of the Green New Deal, the brainchild of the more progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey, the Biden environment plan is certainly a much needed step in the right direction after four years of climate change denial from the executive branch.
Of course, another factor that makes this ticket so progressive is Biden’s choice of Vice-Presidential candidate, Kamala Harris. Races are rarely decided on the basis of running-mates, but Harris brings a lot to the table in her own right. Her experience as San Francisco District Attorney and California’s Attorney General proves anyone accusing her of being a ‘token’ to win minority voters wrong. Harris is experienced and knowledgeable with honed leadership skills, further her own presidential bid showed a clear policy platform that she may be able to work on during her time as VP. In recent years, Harris has taken on progressive fights, reforming often racially and socio-economically biased bail-conditions, raising the minimum wage, and defending the rights of refugees and immigrants that have come under such harsh scrutiny in the Trump Administration. If Harris brings all these values and this experience to the White House, her role as the first Woman and first Black and Indian-American Vice-President is groundbreaking, but secondary to her qualifications for the job.
The Biden/Harris platform has genuine merit, and if a lot of their policies are delivered, it would be a step-forward in tackling the many issues facing America today. Importantly, a vote for today’s Joe Biden is not a vote for the Joe Biden of 1976 or 1988. While he has been less than a darling of the Democratic left in the past, his 2020 platform is legitimately progressive. It is fair to argue that his policies won’t go far enough in some respects, but they are decidedly a step forward.
There were a multitude of reasons not to vote for Joe Biden in the Democratic Primary, many of which I have outlined above but, whether we like it or not, he is the Democratic candidate. Whether he aligns with your beliefs now or has done in the past is not as important in this election as it should be. Unfortunately, America’s two-party system often leaves you choosing between the lesser of two evils. On November 3rd, Americans will choose the path of not just their own country, but the outcome of several global issues, and we can only hope they choose wisely. Joe Biden is not the candidate that America deserves, but he is what it needs to get back on its feet.
