Why I Voted for Joe Biden
This week has brought so much more tension than we could have imagined — not because we didn’t expect drama or long waits, but because no matter how much you plan, it’s still hard to emotionally prepare yourself for this roller coaster. Why is it such a roller coaster? Because for many, it feels as though the future of our democracy and country is at stake. I’m sure I can speak for many when I say it’s been a nail-biting, wine-drinking, chocolate-eating, high- and low-feeling few days.
As I continue to waste my time scrolling through Twitter and listening to the rage, I continue to hear an argument from strong Trump supporters who say that those who supported Joe Biden did so only to get rid of President Trump. And since we’re all sitting here paralyzed, unable to focus on any other work, it made me think hard about why I voted for Biden — why I genuinely support him and why I have from the beginning.
- I voted for decency, humanity, and for the preservation of American values.
- I voted for gun control and for someone who will spearhead an effort to get some common-sense gun regulations, because I don’t want to be scared each day my children go to school.
- I voted for someone who believes that everyone in the United States should have access to healthcare (and who would allow me to keep my private insurance).
- I voted for someone who will pursue immigration policies that make sense for this country — in a way that protects security, upholds our values, and supports our economic competitive edge.
- I voted for someone who takes climate change seriously and who will work hard now so that our children don’t have to suffer the worst damage that will come with increasing temperatures.
- I voted for someone who will reinstate the environmental protections Trump undid, because I don’t want my kids to ingest dangerous chemicals in their food.
- I voted for someone who believes in the relationships with our allies and the enormous benefit we derive from those alliances.
- I voted for someone who genuinely cares for the well-being of all American families — wherever they’re from, whatever they look like, whomever they vote for.
- I voted for someone who I’ve personally seen in action. Who’s a good person. Who genuinely wants to do the right thing.
- I voted for someone who understands that freedom of the press is paramount to a functioning democracy, and who will not seek to sow distrust in the American media.
- I voted for someone who will communicate like a President should because it matters — for someone who knows how to lead a nation in a pandemic, how to console a nation after a natural disaster, and how the right words can tamp down hate, racism, and religious prejudice instead of fueling them.
- I voted for someone who will unite my country — my beautiful country that is so divided it makes my heart hurt.
- I voted for someone who will lead. Who will steer us in the right direction. Whom I can follow and feel safe.
- I voted for someone who I know will trust science to fight a pandemic.
- I voted for someone who believes in the good of the U.S. government and who doesn’t seek to systematically dismantle government agencies and missions by firing hard-working civil servants.
- I voted for someone I know supports women’s rights.
- I voted for someone I know supports LGBTQ rights.
- I voted for someone who believes in free trade while fighting for American workers.
- I voted for someone who I know is strong on counter-terrorism, and who will act appropriately when his own government says that the current most significant domestic terror threat stems from violent white supremacy.
- I voted for someone I can be proud to call my President.
- I voted for someone who may have an opportunity to put a liberal judge on the Supreme Court — because I wasn’t born in 1776 and I believe that the issues being presented to the Supreme Court today require a contemporary perspective in line with our Constitution.
- I voted for someone whom I know will have respect for the Office of the President — who won’t abuse that power for personal or political gain.
- I voted for someone I don’t believe could be blackmailed by a foreign country.
- I voted for someone who believes in facts and who won’t lie to me.
- I voted for someone who is honest and transparent and who fucking paid his taxes.
- I voted for someone who I know wants my kids to grow up in the best America possible — who wants to reduce polarization and partisanship, who wants to see the end of racial injustice, and who wants us all to flourish.
- I voted for someone who served our first Black president and chose as his running mate the first woman of color ever to join a major-party ticket.
- I voted for someone who knows that America has always been great.
It is not because I can’t stand Trump that I voted for Biden, although I would not fault anyone for wanting to vote against his lack of morality and common decency. It is because I, and countless other Americans, believed Joe Biden would make an excellent President. And he will.
