Analysis | Settling for Biden
In the 2020 presidential election, many Democrats are finding themselves “settling for Biden” – not explicitly supporting the candidate, but preferring the nominee’s policies over President Donald Trump’s. WikiCommons
The 2020 presidential election reintroduces a certain moral dilemma for many Americans: to choose between the lesser of two evils.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has seen his candidacy clouded by the 1994 crime bill, while President Donald Trump has been criticized for perceived actions against the Black Lives Matter Movement. The “lesser of two evils” phrase circulated the media during the 2016 presidential election between Trump and then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, as 33% of Trump supporters and 32% of Clinton supporters voted “partially in opposition to the other candidate,” according to a study by Pew Research Center.
While some Democrats who strongly preferred candidates such as Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren or Pete Buttigieg may be protesting Biden’s candidacy by not voting, others on the left are choosing to “Settle for Biden,” with the logic that any vote not for a Democratic candidate is a vote for Trump.
The opposition to Trump, and this “anything-but-him” mentality, has in part been manufactured due to the president’s reputation for showing little compassion to marginalized groups, highlighted by racially charged comments made throughout his presidency. Trump called white nationalists “fine people,” while conversely referring to Black Lives Matter protestors as “thugs,” Mexicans as “rapists” and spewing hateful words about immigrants, women and other minorities.
Yet former Vice President and Delaware Sen. Biden also faces public scrutiny for his own legislative contributions to further institutional racism. During his time as a senator, he opposed busing in the 1970s and later helped write the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act that ultimately led to mass incarcerations, which were believed to target people of color. He, too, can be seen in the public’s eye as guilty of ignorant and stereotypical racial comments, inappropriately joking that “you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent,” while also facing allegations of sexual assault.
Thus, many registered Democrats recognize there are imperfections from both candidates and have been forced to weigh the projected impact each could have on the country – for better or for worse.
An important issue to many voters on the left is climate change, which correlates to social welfare, being that marginalized and socially or economically disadvantaged communities are disproportionately affected by the issue. Biden has vowed to work to supply clean energy, eliminate carbon pollution by 2035 and reinstate the United States in the Paris Agreement. Trump had pulled the U.S. out of the agreement in June 2017 and has stated he’s “not a big believer in man-made climate change.”
As such, while many Democratic voters likely won’t agree with all of Biden’s policies or past decisions, it’s his position on certain issues combined with loathing Trump that has led this “Settle for Biden” crusade. It remains to be seen whether the movement’s support will be enough to unseat Trump from the presidency in the Nov. 3 election.