In October 2016, I wrote a post on Facebook complaining that our democracy was broken, our elections predetermined, and Hillary Clinton was going to be the next President of the United States. A month later Trump won the election. One lesson I drew from Trump’s election was that the political establishment was weaker than I understood, and could allow incredibly dangerous forces to rise to power. I thought the machine was on autopilot but I was wrong; things could change more quickly than I thought was possible.
About a month ago I recorded a podcast where I said I was going to vote for Joe Biden due to his staff and the possibilities of organizing under another Biden term. I believed that Biden was capable of running for president and winning the election. After last week's debate, I am no longer confident in Biden’s ability to run and win. I believe keeping Biden on the ticket is inviting a Trump victory, and a second Trump term would be disastrous for our country.
I believe in leadership. Leadership requires followers, people who believe in your ability to lead and buy into your vision for the future. Leadership requires saying what is true even when it's unpopular. Leadership means changing course when you are headed for defeat. Leadership means putting your ego aside for the good of the group. The truth is that the American people have lost faith in Joe Biden’s ability to lead. We do not want another Trump presidency, but we don’t have faith that Biden can beat Trump. Right now leaders have a choice to make: to deny reality and demand fealty to Biden or to tell the truth and change course before it is too late.
In 2020, I fought along with thousands of others to defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden. At the time, Biden’s message to America was that he was the candidate to unite the country. He said he would run as a one-term president in 2020 to defeat Trump and would then pass the torch to the next generation. As soon as he got a taste of the presidency, Biden’s tune changed and he insisted on running for another term. The primary this year was a joke, with zero debates and some states not even holding primary elections.
It feels once again like the machine is on auto-pilot, but this time we are headed for a terrible crash and everyone knows it. If Biden is the Democratic nominee and Trump wins in November, no one will be surprised. From political pundits to polls to anecdotal conversations, the writing is on the wall that if Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee for president he will likely lose. He is currently trailing in every single battleground state and Trump’s lead is widening after Biden’s dismal debate performance.
At the same time, the message from Dems is clear that the 2024 election is “the most important election of our lifetime.” Pundits and politicians across the Democratic party will tell you that the very fabric of our democracy and the foundation of the country is on the ballot this year. If Trump wins, it could be the last free and fair election in America. Extremists have written “Project 2025,” a public manifesto for authoritarian rule in the United States that Trump will likely enact if elected President. The 2024 election is the most important election and Republicans are running an authoritarian vengeful wannabe dictator for president. The Democratic party is meeting this historic moment by running a candidate that is losing in every measurable way and that many in his own party do not want as the candidate.
Despite the threat of 2024 possibly being the last fair election, many Democrats are lining up to run for president in 2028. Josh Shapiro and Gavin Newsom seem to believe democracy will be well preserved for their presidential ambitions which they have scheduled for 2028. Both have pledged loyalty to Biden and have been all over cable news defending Biden post-debate. I believe the 2028 hopefuls know Biden is going to lose, and ultimately they are fine with it. They believe an open-primary following a Trump presidency presents better conditions for their candidacy in four years.
The purpose of the Democratic party is to nominate candidates that have the highest chance of defeating the opposition. Over the last eight years the Republican party has become about one thing: Donald Trump. Today, the function of the Democratic party seems to be coordinating loyalty to Joe Biden. Political parties are meant to be a vehicle for collective action that can outlast any individual party leader. The threat facing America is Donald Trump along with the ambitions of individuals in the Democratic party. Individuals who could convince Biden to step down or jump in the race themselves at the convention won’t take that risk because of their career goals. Biden, who has named the stakes of this election over and over again, could step down for the good of the party and the country. Instead, he is charting the course to go down as a selfish egomaniac who chose his own legacy over democracy and the country.
The Democrats have an opportunity to meet this historic moment and to nominate a candidate that actually has a chance of defeating Donald Trump. In my home-state Pennsylvania, Democratic Senator Bob Casey is polling much better than Biden. Casey is a standard Democrat, there isn’t anything miraculous about him. He is garnering more support because Pennsylvanians want to vote for Democrats, they just don’t believe in Joe Biden. If Democrats nominated any standard Democrat from the long-list of nationally known popular politicians, that Democrat would very likely defeat Donald Trump. Like Hillary Clinton in 2016, Joe Biden is uniquely positioned to lose to Donald Trump in 2024.
We are in a moment where the auto-pilot has been temporarily turned off. From MSNBC anchors to elected Democrats behind closed doors, many are questioning if Biden is the best candidate to defeat Trump. As expected, many people are also condemning the discourse and demanding complete loyalty to Joe Biden. Democratic strategists have been sounding the alarm on Biden for months and months. We’ve been told Biden is in good shape and ready to defeat Trump. All of us who saw the debate now know Biden’s team has been lying about his ability to run for president. The Democrats had years to prepare for 2024, but careerist political egomaniacs in the party have failed as leaders. Instead of setting up the party to have the best chance of winning, they have chosen their own career ambitions at the cost of the party and the country. If Biden remains the candidate and Trump wins in November, we will have only the Democratic establishment to blame.
The next six weeks will be decisive. The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to begin on August 19, 2024, until then the Democratic party has not officially nominated a candidate. All people who believe that Trump is an existential threat should demand the Democrats nominate a more viable candidate at the convention in Chicago.
Biden supporters will say that nominating another candidate would thrust the party into chaos and that sticking with Biden is the safe choice. I agree that if Biden stepped down it would be chaotic, but it would also wake up a sleeping electorate. If the Democratic National Convention actually mattered, if Democrats felt like the party was actually a living breathing body, it could re-energize the party.
Instead of staring down the barrel of defeat and shrugging our shoulders, we would be invited to take action to support a nomination process at the convention and to support the eventual nominee. While I would love a progressive democratic socialist to be the standard-bearer of the party, I would work my butt off to support a liberal-moderate candidate that I believed could win the election. We would have something new and fresh to talk to voters about, we could convince voters that the party actually wants their votes. We could honor Biden for his noble decision and even forgive his mistakes in office.
I believe nominating a new ticket to represent the Democratic party could reenergize party activists and re-engage an electorate that is utterly disgusted with both political parties and their obsession with elderly idols. As King says, “The time is always right to do right.” Progressives are the junior partner in the Democratic coalition. We are not in charge of the party yet and will not be the ones to convince Biden to step aside. If the liberal moderate wing of the party steps up to meet this historic moment, progressives will work tirelessly between now and November to elect the Democratic nominee. Progressive organizations will be working regardless to defeat Trump, but I can tell you with certainty the energy inside these organizations will skyrocket if we have a new candidate and a vision for the future to excite our base to go out and knock doors to get out the vote.
Democrats are in a storm. We can still chart a new course or we can stare at the crashing waves of authoritarianism and shrug our shoulders as we take on more water.
What happens next is up to us.
Now is the time for change!!! We need a candidate who has a clear vision and a chance to beat Trump. We don’t need a felon in the White House!
I’m with you