After So Many Disappointments, a Case for Joe

A year ago, the candidates running for the Democratic nomination were the most diverse ever to run for a major party’s nomination. This diversity reflected the party itself — a party that’s increasingly uplifting the voices of minorities, working-class Americans, and those suffering through historic inequality. That diversity made me proud.

I was proud because I thought I’d be casting my first vote in a primary election for a candidate that looked like me and that supported many of the ideas I care about. But my candidate would drop out in early January, and over a few weeks, the field would whittle down from the most diverse ever to one whose front-runners have all the diversity of a 77-year-old white man and a 78-year-old white man.

I don’t mean to minimize the ideological differences between these candidates — though they’ve often voted together in the Senate, more than a handful of differences set them apart. These differences give their supporters ammunition to use against the other candidate, but this infighting will only hurt the party as it struggles to find its leader.

The soul-searching of finding another candidate to support over and over has taken a toll on my enthusiasm and has left me only mildly energized, to say the least. From my conversations with others, I think that’s how many of us young Democrats feel — especially those from minority backgrounds.

But on Super Tuesday, while the latest of my chosen candidates underperformed, another overwhelmingly won over crucial minority voters. For all the talk of increasing turnout among young voters and minorities, my then-candidate demonstrated an inability to do so. We cannot extend this primary and risk a repeat of 2016. I want to make the case for Joe Biden.

Joe Biden is a dedicated, passionate public servant, a proven leader, and more than qualified to be the next President of the United States. He’s been endorsed by more local, state, and national leaders than any other candidate, and has demonstrated an ability to build a winning coalition. He is not the perfect candidate. He has made mistakes and is more centrist than many young voters would like, but now is the time for unity because the alternative is too dangerous. I believe these are the calculations that other candidates made before dropping out of the race, and they might also be why a plurality of them now support Biden.

We’ve already seen what can happen when a primary battle goes on for too long. In 2016, the election was decided by a total of 77,700 voters in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. In all of these states, turnout for Democrats decreased from the last election by more than or approximately this amount. No one can know whether this was because Democratic voters didn’t like their candidate or because the lengthy primary race had disillusioned them, but we should not risk the same outcome again. We cannot repeat the mistake of fracturing the party and frustrating its voters.

Over the last four years, we’ve gotten a taste of what’s at stake when Democrats are unable to successfully rally around a candidate. Economic gains and tax cuts have disproportionately benefited the wealthy. On civil rights, we’ve watched this administration fail to stand up for those at risk. At the border, we’ve watched this administration commit human rights violations against children. We have no plan for the climate, no end in sight to a costly trade war. Now a dangerous disease’s global spread has been fueled by this administration’s empty statements and lack of action.

It’s on all Democrats to rally behind the frontrunner and to make sure we extoll his virtues — and there are many. He wrote one of the first climate change bills, has been a leader in the Senate, has taken on the National Rifle Association, spoke up about gay rights before many others, and has remained in the public eye for most of his life. He’s been vetted, he’s experienced, and I trust him to lead this country.

When my home state of Florida votes on March 17, I will cast my ballot for Joe Biden. He wasn’t my first choice, but he is a good man and a good candidate. Come November, he will provide a clear contrast to our current leader for voters around the country.

What’s at stake here are the lives of migrants, health insurance for millions of Americans, the economic stability of farmers, workers, and businessmen alike, the future of our climate, and the sanctity of our democratic institutions. This election is too important to lose in the primaries, again.

To echo the slogan of the 2016 Democratic nominee, we are stronger together. As Democrats, we must recognize this truth and cast aside internal differences. Instead, we must work together to put this country back on track. While the words of a New York Times opinion columnist say that to choose Joe Biden is “to choose the past over the future,” really it’s to choose a past we can build upon and one that I believe a majority of Americans would prefer to the present. In Joe Biden, I might be voting for a lesser evil, but I’m also voting for the chance at a greater good.

Patrick C. Barham Quesada ’21, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a Government concentrator in Pforzheimer House.