Why I’m Voting For Biden

by Ella Syverson

I’ll start out by saying this: I don’t like Joe Biden. I felt differently when he was in the White House. I’m young enough that my only memory of the 2008 election was voting for the Obama/Biden ticket in my elementary school election, just like my parents. It was Obama’s face I pictured as President for all of my childhood, and I remember feeling distinctly okay about the state of our country. No, the White House wasn’t perfect. Looking back, I disagree with the Obama administration on many things from foreign policy to immigration to the climate crisis, but I still remember that theme of hope. I remember believing, wholeheartedly, that our country, that the world, was headed in the right direction. Surely, the moral arc of the universe bent towards justice. 

Now, I’m not so sure. We live in a different world. Yes, the systemic oppression that the United States was founded and still runs on has always existed, but it has been laid bare and illuminated by a single tyrannical white man and his supporters. Our democracy has always been profoundly flawed, but not since the Civil War has its very existence been threatened. In such a moment as this, with crises piling on crises, it seems unconscionable to me, to take a “moderate” stance. This isn’t a time to go back to normal, it’s a time for radical change, it’s a chance to build a better world. And so I understand deeply the distaste for Biden that many of my fellow youth, leftists, and radicals have. He voted to invade Iraq, opposed gay marraige, supported the Hyde Ammendment, co-sponsored and wrote legislation exacerbating mass incarceration, supported a freeze in social security benefits, and has been accused on several counts of sexual harassment and assault. (Of course, he has significantly progressed in his viewpoints on many of these issues, but he still remains on the conservative side of democratic politics.)

Biden is, whether we like it or not, our best chance at stopping another term of Trump. We had our chance to nominate Bernie Sanders or another progressive candidate, and we failed to do so. Whether we like it or not, this is the way our election system works. It’s not fair, but as individual voters we can’t change the rules and break down the two party system. That said, there are definitely solutions that could make an election system that truly gives all candidates an equal chance, but none of these solutions are asking individual voters to write in a candidate or go with a third party. I am by no means an expert, and I encourage you to do your own research, but a few of the systemic fixes I would offer would be mandatory voting, publicly funded elections, and ranked choice voting. Unfortunately, we don’t live in that world for this election. We live in a country where the only real options are to pick D or R at the ballot box. By voting for Biden, you're not compromising your values. You’re working within the system we have to get the best outcome possible.

Like it or not, and regardless of your political affiliation, that outcome is President Joe Biden. We can’t make the same mistakes we did in 2016. We can’t afford to lose votes to Bernie Sanders or to any other alternative to Biden. We can’t afford to lose votes to low turnout or lack of enthusiasm. I optimistically believe that Biden will win, and he’s up in the polls. Then again, Hillary Clinton was also leading in polls. I won’t underestimate Trump’s support, and I won’t take this election for granted. Though I disagree with him on the majority of issues, I’ll fight for Biden. I’ll vote for Biden. I’m asking you to do the same.