Why I'm voting for Joe Biden

My personal testimony. And no, it's not just an anti-Trump vote.

This week’s message is going to be a little different than usual. Instead of focusing on a single issue, I’m going to discuss why I’m voting for Joe Biden more generally. Unlike our other messages, this post is not meant to give you specific talking points on a certain issue. I won’t be doing deep dives on the policies here, so don’t feel pressured to regurgitate what I’m laying out. Every policy reason I mention will get its own post with its own talking points in a later message.

I’m writing this post because I believe the largest voting bloc in this election is anti-Trump. Yet this election is extremely close because, for many voters, anti-Trump sentiment has not yet translated into a pro-Biden vote. The people who fall into that gap will decide this election.

Polling shows that personal testimonials are the best persuasion tool we have. I’m sharing mine for that reason. After reading this, I hope you will feel more confident adding your voice and sharing your reasons, whatever they may be.

The Top Line:

Joe Biden has been a successful president, and the country is better off because of him.

Here are the facts: Inflation is down, food prices are down, crime and murder rates are way down, and gas prices are down. We have had the strongest economic recovery of any advanced economy in the world and the best job market since 1960s. We have the lowest uninsured rate in American history.

Biden has challenged corporate power, taking on the oil, pharmaceutical, and gun lobby industries. He has been one of the most pro-union presidents in recent history and has aggressively pursued monopolies with increased antitrust enforcement.

His signature legislative accomplishment, the Inflation Reduction Act, is a historic investment in green energy and our economy.

His first term has been a positive step forward, improving the economy, lowering inflation, protecting abortion access, and making healthcare more affordable.

Donald Trump is an unprecedented threat to our democracy. He is an adjudicated rapist with a history of misogyny and racist business practices.

He is antagonistic to our principles of self-governance. He is the first president not to ensure a peaceful transfer of power. He will use the power of the presidency to enrich himself, fill the federal government with political sycophants, deport millions of people, continue to restrict women’s access to reproductive rights and seek retribution on his political foes.

He does not care about you or your family; he is running for president to shield himself from legal accountability. A second Trump term will be chaos. We can not give this man the most powerful job in the world.

Joe Biden’s Policy Accomplishments:

Joe Biden’s legislative record has a lot that I support.

In Biden’s first term, he:

• Passed the Inflation Reduction Act, the biggest investment in clean energy production in our country’s history.

  • Between the IRA, Build Back Better, and the CHIPS Act, the Biden administration is investing Two trillion dollars in green energy development.

  • The IRA will create high-paying union jobs that benefit communities impacted by deindustrialization and racial redlining.

  • Thanks to provision 45x in the IRA, manufacturing wind and solar components in the United States is now cheaper than importing them.

  • This is estimated to create 1.6 million jobs, 800,000 in manufacturing

  • Thanks to Biden, we are building an electric car charging station network, greening our power grid, and making oil companies cap their methane emissions.

• Made healthcare more affordable.

  • The American Rescue Plan of 2021 expanded who is eligible for subsidies on the ACA exchange by 20%, meaning more people now qualify for lower insurance premiums.

  • 63% of uninsured Americans are now eligible for financial assistance through the exchange.

  • 40% of uninsured Americans are now eligible for a free, or nearly free, healthcare plan through the ACA.

  • 80% of ACA shoppers can find a plan for less then $10/month.

  • The IRA, mandates the federal government to negotiate the price of 10 of the most commonly used drugs with the pharmaceutical industry and limited the cost of insulin to $35/month.

• Forgave billions in student debt: As of today’s writing the Biden Administration has forgiven $167 billion in student loans for 4.75 million Americans.

• Has taken more than 20 executive actions on gun violence, including a bipartisan bill that expanded background checks and closed the gun show loophole. Senator Chris Murphy has suggested these actions have led to a 20% reduction in urban gun murders.

• Used executive actions to protect women’s access to contraception and the abortion pill.

• Was one of the most pro-worker presidencies in modern history:

  • Improved working conditions for union workers on federal projects

  • Supported the United Auto Workers strike

  • Banned noncompete clauses

  • Expanded eligibility criteria for overtime pay

  • Supported the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) which would impose more penalties on companies that interfere with employees’ union rights and speeds up the collective bargaining process.

This is not a comprehensive list of his accomplishments, either, and he did all of this with a single vote margin in the Senate and a MAGA-controlled House of Representatives the last two years.

A staggering list of accomplishments and yet not the only reason I support President Biden. . .

The Supreme Court

This is the big one. Chances are Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito will retire in the next 4 years, AND there is an outside chance Sonia Sotomayer will as well. If Trump becomes president, he will most likely get two more Supreme Court judges, bringing his total to five!

And even though Thomas and Alito come from the right wing of the court, Trump will certainly appoint judges that are crazier and younger, meaning the 6-3 MAGA majority Supreme Court will be locked in for decades. If Sotomayer retires, Trump could get another three appointments, bringing his total to six justices. And the court would find itself at a 7-2 MAGA majority.

In contrast, if Joe Biden wins, there is a chance that Thomas and Alito will not retire, but if at least one did, the Supreme Court would have a more balanced 5-4 composition.

The swing between these two outcomes is enormous. This reason alone is enough to support President Biden.

Elephant in the Room: Gaza and Israel

Let’s dive right into this because it’s a big deal. Many of you reading this may be hesitant to vote for Joe Biden because of his support for Israel, or you at least know someone who is.

Personally, I’m not happy about it either. I wish Biden would do more to hold Netanyahu accountable and resolve the situation peacefully. Stopping the shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel is a nice start, but it took way too long. What Netanyahu’s government is doing in Gaza is morally unacceptable, made even worse by the recent attack on Rafah. I wish Biden would aggressively call for a ceasefire and show more moral courage. He hasn’t to this point, and that is not good.

But I’m still going to vote for him. And here is why.

My vote is not a full-throated endorsement of everything a candidate believes or has done. It's a strategic decision, a way to support the person you believe can be held accountable and closest aligns with your values.

It's a practical choice based on two candidates, and with that framing in mind, the choice couldn’t be more obvious to me.

What is going on in Gaza is horrific, but it could be worse. Trump and the Republicans would be far worse for Palestinians. Trump has pledged he would provide no aid for Gaza. Other Republicans, like Lindsey Graham, have called for Israel to “do whatever the hell you have to do to defend yourself. Level the place.”

So, while I’m not happy with Biden’s handling of this situation, Trump would be worse. In addition, on every other issue I care about, climate, healthcare, reproductive rights, racial justice, and gun control, Biden is clearly preferable to Trump.

Third-Party Candidates

This is when people start shouting at me, “You keep saying this election is a choice between two candidates, but what about RFK Jr?”

Look, the election IS a choice between two candidates. No third-party candidate has a chance of winning. It’s just not going to happen.

First, RFK Jr. is not currently on enough ballots to win 270 electoral votes. Some other candidates are, but they have no substantial polling support. Second, despite some legitimate debate about who RFK Jr. pulls more votes from, voting for a 3rd party candidate is a vote for Donald Trump.

Thanks to the Electoral College, President Biden needs to build an anti-Trump coalition to win this election. This means that any vote that doesn’t go to Trump needs to go to Biden. If they don’t, Trump will benefit.

I sympathize with those who want to see the break up of our two-party system. However, voting for a third-party candidate with no shot of winning the election, especially if it helps elect Donald Trump, is not the way to do that.

If you want to break up the two-party system, you should support these three actions:

• Rank choice voting

• Supreme Court reform

• Electoral College reform

Donald Trump becoming president will set progressive priorities back decades, if not permanent. The Supreme Court will be a critical roadblock to any Democratic initiatives for my entire lifetime. Abortion will be banned nationwide. Dreamers will face immediate deportation. Affordable healthcare will disappear. Tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans will become permanent. Freedom of the press will be under attack. Oil companies will be given full access to drilling sites in our country. The religious right will have a stronghold on the center of American politics.

If risking all of that is worth a protest vote for a third-party candidate, then you do you.

For me, the choice is easy. President Biden sets our country up for the best future. In November I will be voting for him.