In 2019, a dear friend was working as the Maine state director for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. I wasn’t initially sold on Bernie as the potential Democratic nominee, but over time, I decided to support the Sanders campaign and even ended up volunteering on the campaign. Then COVID hit and upended the primary season, and we ended up with Joe Biden as the Democratic Party nominee—who, as we all know, would end up as president.
I can’t say that I was ever jazzed about Biden, but he had my support—if for no other reason than almost anyone was better than a second Trump term. Given Biden’s age, I figured he would be a one-term president and the Democratic Party might roll out someone a little younger for 2024. Or at least position Kamala Harris to run at the top of the ticket with a suitable running mate, so that Biden could retire with grace and dignity after a lifetime of public service after finally reaching the pinnacle of success that is President of the United States.
Of course, no one consulted me on the matter and now we find ourselves with a literal rematch from 2020. Two old white guys, who if they were regular shmegular Joes, would be enjoying their golden years (hopefully able to afford both their meds and their groceries) in some kind of retirement mode.
Of course, these two old guys are nowhere near regular elders.
After all, Trump is an almost 80-year-old, newly convicted felon with no moral compass and an authoritarian bent who is a literal puppet for the Christian nationalists who wish to take over the country.
Joe is well, Joe—except he has been actively supporting a genocide for almost a year. Granted, genocide support is baked into this country’s DNA; it’s what we do—what is different is that in today’s world, many people think we should do better. There is also the fact that Biden’s promises to right the ship with regards to COVID have basically been playing Trump-like headgames to simply get us to live with a deadly infectious disease that we still don’t really know what will do to us in another five, 10 or 20 years.
If I were grading Joe’s overall performance using a classroom metric, he would pass but that’s it. I mean, he was better than the last guy, but for most average people our lives have not changed for the better under him. And his administration does a horrible job of promoting the things he has done well.
Many younger Americans are not feeling hopeful at all. Many think we are already living under fascist rule and have no reason to hope and why should they?
The American dream is essentially a fairy tale they have heard about. The jobs don’t pay enough anymore and haven’t for a few decades and home ownership will never happen for most—even renting a place without multiple living mates is increasingly hard for many. There is absolutely no reason to feel hopeful and, as a result, many are tired of BIden and the establishment politicians, and rightly so.
The thing is, from my middle-aged perch, while we are definitely marching towards fascism, we aren’t there yet. While democracy has definitely been taking a beating, it’s hanging on, if only by a thread.
Which means this year’s presidential election is actually kind of important. Of course, it’s worth noting that elections at all levels are important. As we have seen in recent years, who resides in our state houses matters a lot. Right now, a person’s access to abortion pretty much depends on who is in your statehouse. Here in Maine, accessing an abortion is not a problem. But Tennessee or Arkansas—two states where I have family—and it’s a different situation. Outside of Illinois, all of my living family members reside in red states.
Sadly with so much at stake, Biden’s recent debate fiasco has opened up the question of whether or not he should step down. Listen, that debate wasn’t great. I watched in absolute horror. Look, I know the man is 81 and while I suspect he’s cognitively on the ball, it wasn’t pretty to watch. I don’t know, but the job he wants for another four years is probably one of the hardest on the planet. Shit, it ages people. Not one man has left that office not looking like life kicked him dead in the ass.
I am 51, and recently realized I can’t go as hard as I used to. Like, I need my eight hours of sleep; I need quiet time. I am pretty certain Joe does too but at 81, running for this job again seems like a bad idea. But in a world where we pretend age doesn’t matter, somehow Joe and gang deluded themselves into thinking he could absolutely run again and now it’s looking like a bad idea.
The problem though? It’s a month away from the Democratic National Convention and four months away from election day, which with early voting means more like three months away. Short of the man dropping dead on the job, I believe we are stuck with him. Especially if, as some of the chatter politically is saying, folks think there needs to be another candidate but not Kamala Harris.
Which is fucking nuts to me. At this late date, if this guy really can’t run, the only person in my humble opinion who can be slotted into that top slot without destroying the Democratic odds is Harris. Yet the political musings that grow louder every day seem to imply that Democratic insiders, leftists, and younger folks don’t want Kamala either. That is a conversation for another day, since it is hard not to wonder if her race and gender are playing a big role in that line of thought.
Which means we are almost certainly looking at handing Trump a second term, assuming he doesn’t drop dead after a bucket of chicken on the gold throne.
I am no political analyst, but I think the Democratic party is about to nuke itself from the inside by its inability to get information out and support who needs to be supported so they can win.
My general sense is we are fairly fucked anyway you look at it, but the Democratic Party, which has always relied on Black voters—particularly Black women—will absolutely lose a bunch of Black support if they push Joe out and pick anyone but Kamala. I mean, did we not as a bloc save democracy in 2020? Or at least that’s what good white folks like to say.
Sure, they may lose younger voters but they were already going to lose part of that group anyway due to Biden’s support of Israel. Genocide support isn’t as popular as it once was when you see the firsthand footage daily. The party cannot afford to lose the majority of Black voters and young Black leftists are not a large bloc. Sorry.
This country is pretty damn raggedy and things are not on a good track. Most of us can look around in our communities and see that the things the talking heads are saying about America being in good health are patently not true.
Here in Maine, homelessness is a crisis as it is in most locales around the country. Credit card debt is rising because people aren’t earning enough to make ends meet. Healthcare is still largely inaccessible. Rights that in many cases are less than sixty years old are being rolled back. Let’s not even talk about the climate—as we are all starting to realize, summers are getting really fucking hot. There is a real disconnect between the power brokers in charge and average people.
The thing is, no one person or administration is going to magically fix what ails us and ultimately the change we need is going to need to be a group effort from the municipal level on up. It will require organizations and communities working together for a shared vision. But what we do need is to ensure that we will have a climate where we can work together. A climate that won’t criminalize our caring and efforts to create change. For me, that is why ultimately I am voting for Biden. Or whomever ends up at the top of the Democratic ticket. As I have already said, we are marching towards fascism but we aren’t there yet.
Just the fact that we can get online and express ourselves is a reminder that we still have some freedoms. It may not seem like it, but they haven’t started rounding up the rabble rousers and tossing us in black boxes, yet.
I realize that for some who will read this, my support of Biden may seem at odds with my values, and yet I see voting as harm reduction—one aspect of creating change. Change is a slog. If there is nothing else we should have learned in the era of Black Lives Matter is how we can go full throttle and still accomplish very little in the way of concrete change. Or even see those changes immediately be rolled back.
We need to build stronger coalitions and organizations that are committed for the long haul. Change also requires logistical planning with concrete and actionable steps. Knowing what I know about organizing and change is why I don’t think another candidate can be found that will gain enough support in four months or less. It’s also why as much as I want to support third-party candidates, they aren’t viable at this time. But that doesn’t mean they can’t become viable alternatives to the two-party system that is utterly broken—however, that means planning now and having the space to plan and build those parties from local levels on up for decades. Which, after a second Trump term, may become impossible.
Ultimately, whether you vote or not is your choice; who you vote for is also your choice. But the most important thing is to do something. Do something beyond venting and allowing yourself to feel hopeless. Don’t let this moment take away your agency. Even if you truly cannot bring yourself to vote for either major party candidate, don’t forget that local elections matter as well. Building in movement spaces matters. Providing support to those more on the frontlines is also a form of support. No matter what, do something and stay hopeful.
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