Why I am Voting for Biden

Voting for Joe Biden isn’t something I take lightly. It is the right thing to do, faced with the potential of another four years with Donald Trump in the White House.

Racism and sexism are enough for me to reject Donald Trump. Add in policy disagreements on trade, immigration, and federalism and that leaves me eager for change.

Donald Trump has to go.

Biden will be better on some important issues, including trade, immigration, and relations with Russia.

Though I do not agree most of the Democratic agenda, and I know I’ll be arguing against many of the policies Joe Biden attempts to implement, debating the merits of policy options is far better than knowing our president doesn’t really want to be bothered with leading the nation.

The list of disagreements I have with Democrats is long. It begins with their plans for yet more spending when what we need is a reallocation of spending. The nation is broke, as I and many others have discussed repeatedly. We’re not only in deficit every year, we’re busy setting records with the cumulative debt.

If we had controlled spending and even established reserves, recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic would be easy: spend because we must for a national emergency. We don’t have a “rainy day fund” as a nation. Instead, we’re just praying that low interest rates continue indefinitely. That won’t happen. Good luck as a policy will work… until it doesn’t.

Yet, did Republicans control spending? Did Republicans reform taxes? Did Republicans improve the healthcare markets to lower costs? The list of GOP failures is equal to my disagreements with Democratic priorities.

Basically, borrowing from Stuart Steven’s book title, It Was All a Lie. The GOP was only serious about containing government power and spending when they were opposing a Democratic president.

The Republicans helped control spending under Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. I wanted to imagine this was out of earnest concern for spending. The results during the Clinton years were outstanding for the economy. We need fiscal restraint again, and quickly. Yet, I doubt the GOP was concerned with spending; opposition to a Democrat guided their choices.

Trump exposes Republican voters for what they are, not what I imagined them to be. The evidence was clear under George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. The GOP voters and their elected representatives actively rejected and efforts the Bush presidencies made towards reforming the party.

The events of September 11, 2001, caused George W. Bush to pivot away from his efforts to reform and rebuild the Republican Party. I voted for Bush in 2000 because people I know and trust suggested he was earnest in his desire to redefine the GOP.

George W. Bush privately decried the Southern Strategy and the subtle appeals to the racism that had even helped his father and Ronald Reagan win the presidency. Since Richard Nixon’s 1968 and 1972 campaigns, the GOP tolerated appeals to the worst of human nature to win elections.

Bush actually made some progress, too. As recently as 2012, GOP candidates won 40% of minority votes, except for the Black vote (lost by 1972). The GOP won Pacific-American and split Hispanic / Latino voters with Democrats.

When Bush spoke out on anti-Islamic rhetoric, that was the right thing to do. When he talked about improving access to voting, improving immigration policy, and trying to achieve the American promise, he didn’t have the support of his own party or its voters.

Sadly, Southern Whites had taken over the GOP, along with social conservatives and racists in the Midwest.

Wrong is wrong, and both parties engaged in appeals to racists Southern white voters. With Barack Obama, the Democrats finally moved forward, away from Bill Clinton’s version of the Southern Strategy. The Republicans became the party of 1950 Dixiecrats.

Yes, Bill Clinton and Al Gore played to Dixiecrats. Clinton allowed (and even rushed to attend) Ricky Ray Rector’s execution. He pushed welfare reform and a “tough on crime” message. Clinton talking down to Sista Soulja was a purely racist ploy. Al Gore played up his father’s legacy, as a Southern Senator. The elder Al Gore voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, even  filibustering against it and arguing against other civil rights legislation. (He was progressive among Southern Democrats, but primarily for the benefit of whites, not minorities.)

The Democrats now point to the GOP Southern Strategy of Nixon, forgetting the Blue Dogs were essential to Democratic control of the House through 1994.

History reveals, then, that both parties had racist and sexist leaders. Woodrow Wilson, considered the founder of the modern Democratic Party, notoriously supported the KKK and screened Birth of Nation in the White House. Lyndon Johnson reportedly said some extremely racist things in private, as did Ronald Reagan.

At least Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower appear to have been ahead of their time. And one was from each party, reminding us that the parties were more alike in the 1950s and early 1960s. They both had racists and they both had forward thinkers.

Members of both parties argued and debated class, race, and gender issues. The reports that George

Eisenhower represents the Republican Party I wish existed today.

The GOP crashed and burned during the Obama administration.

Many thoughtful Republicans and Democrats did rethink and revise their views on race during the 1960s and 70s. Barry Goldwater admitted his stance on States’ Rights had empowered racists. Lee Atwater apologized for his campaign strategies. William F. Buckley embraced affirmative action and publicly apologized for his racist past. Among Democrats, Robert Byrd evolved from a KKK member to a leader on Civil Rights.

Even Joe Biden evolved on school integration. I respect growth and admitting mistakes.

People can change. Some people. Not Donald Trump.

Trump is a racist. That’s my first and primary reason for opposing him. He is xenophobic and anti-immigration. Don’t try to argue his is for “legal immigration” because that doesn’t address the problems we have already. He is a misogynist, which means he cannot possibly take gender equity seriously.

And then there is Trump’s embrace of Russia’s leadership and other authoritarian governments.

We have many, many historical failures as a nation. We too often did not stand for democracy and human rights during the Cold War. We have always put “American Interests” ahead of our morality. The world is messy, but we need to do better.

Trump makes no effort to improve our international standing. He doesn’t speak up for freedom and democratic ideals.

Instead, Trump admires dictators in China, Russia, Turkey, and elsewhere.

I’m also voting against any Republican in the Senate or House who has not stood up to Trump. Living in Texas, that means I’m voting, for the fist time in my life, against every single national Republican on my ballot. I will not support anyone who has not actively worked against Trump’s policies.

I split my ballot in most elections. Not this year. The third-party options aren’t viable and only serve to increase the odds of a Trump victory.

When the choice was Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, many people were tired of Clinton and Bush family dynasties. Enough people didn’t like or trust Clinton that I still don’t understand why she was the Democratic nominee. Hillary Clinton is the reason Trump won, and I know many Democrats don’t want to admit that.

Joe Biden is not Hillary Clinton. He should be leading by a wide margin. He isn’t. There’s still a significant chance Trump could be returned to the White House.

I am voting for Joe Biden because Republicans left me no choice.

The GOP is dead to me until they follow Democrats and renounce their racist, sexist, hateful mistakes of the past.