As all United States citizens are probably aware, the United States Presidential Election is slowly approaching. This has been a crazy year around the world but particularly for our country so voting this November (or earlier for mail-in ballot voting which is essential right now during the pandemic) is crucial! At a glance of 2020 in the United States, there have been over six million cases of COVID-19 leaving over one hundred eighty-seven thousand people dead, thirty million Americans have already claimed unemployment benefits, and the police have taken the lives of seven hundred sixty-five people while Black Lives Matter protests are continuously happening throughout the country. Needless to say, America is not doing well right now but our current president is not taking much action to help the vulnerable people most affected by these circumstances. Because of this along with the president’s consistent lying, sexism, racism, homophobia, and xenophobia, I will not be voting for Donald Trump for reelection.
The Democratic presidential nomination that will be running against Trump is Joe Biden, President Barack Obama’s former vice president. However, Biden is not favored amongst many democrats, especially those who lean further to the left. He is not as progressive as some wish in terms of his economic, criminal, and racial policies (NPR 2020). In addition, his running mate Kamala Harris is not very progressive either and has even aligned herself with the police in the past during her time as an attorney as a “top cop” (New York Times 2020). Another reason why Biden is not liked amongst many is the fact he has been accused of sexual assault (NPR 2020). While I do not agree with some of these aspects of him, in cases such as these we cannot let our pride get ahead of us. If you want a more progressive candidate and will not vote at all or elect a third-party candidate, this will just be supporting Donald Trump in the end. We saw a similar occurrence in the 2016 election as 58.1% of the eligible voting population did not vote for Trump nor Clinton which resulted in Trump becoming president (PSU).
If you do not support Trump and voting for Biden may be a challenge for you, I encourage you to think about how this election is more than just about Biden and Harris. For example, Biden becoming elected would allow Justice Ginsburg to retire and allow for a new member of the supreme court who is in support of reproductive, LGBTQ+, workers’ rights, and much more. Do not get me wrong, there is no problem in criticizing Biden and/or Harris in regards to their actions or policy. However, we need to recognize that at the end of the day a vote for Biden would make a big difference. An election is not always a direct destination, but a journey. Joe Biden may not be the candidate you desire because he is too left or too right-leaning for your preference, but as our country is struggling right now this might just be the change we need to make.
Sources:
https://www.npr.org/2019/07/17/741960479/why-progressives-think-joe-biden-is-not-electable
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/09/us/politics/kamala-harris-policing.html
https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/post-election-2016/voter-turnout