An Open Letter To The #NeverBiden Left

To Whom It May Concern,

I’ve been made aware that you are a Bernie Sanders supporter with reservations about Joe Biden. Maybe your reservations are even such that you’ve said you can’t or vote for him. I just hope you’ll give me a chance to make the case why, even if Joe Biden isn’t the ideal candidate, you should still vote for him. Now, if you live in California or New York, a state where Biden will win by 20%+ easily, this isn’t really for you. I’m not crazy about voting for the Greens or whatever, but I’m not out here stressing that shit. But I swear to fuck, if you live in an important state and you vote for someone else and not Joe Biden, you don’t get to call yourself a progressive ever again.

Is Joe Biden perfect? Of course not, don’t be dumb. I’m not in a habit of saying dumb things. But Biden has a platform that takes the US in the right direction, even if not fast enough and far enough. His healthcare plan is progress to single payer, his environmental policy at least fucking acknowledges the climate crisis, and Jay Inslee is probably 60/40 to run the EPA after the election. Oh, and he’s running against a man who has tried repeatedly to get rid of Obamacare, who literally denies man made climate change, and who appointed coal and oil lobbyists to run the EPA. Oh, and four more years of Trump means the Supreme Court is gone for 30 years, so even if President Ro Khanna wins in 2024 you don’t get anything done.

The thing that everyone who should be important to supposedly progressive people – Bernie Sanders chief amongst them – is that Joe Biden can be fucking negotiated with. You need a more progressive element to a spending bill? Send Bernie, Elizabeth Warren, and Ed Markey (if he wins his Primary) to the White House, and you’re probably looking at a deal within 72 hours. You send that trio to a Trump White House and there’s no deal ever. Bernie understands this, which is why he stayed in to accomplish two important goals after Super Tuesday – beating Dan Lipinski and winning the Wisconsin Supreme Court seat and then *immediately* dropped out. Sanders knows what everyone should – Biden may be insufficiently left wing, but he’s at least somewhat okay. At least he isn’t advocating for injecting bleach as a Corona solution.

And that, friends, is why this is necessary. Donald Trump is a man without a fucking mind anymore, who is legitimately going to get people killed. It’s not some theoretical danger that Trump now poses, we now know. He is a madman, restrained by nothing and motivated by ego and vanity. Any vote that isn’t to remove this man from office is a waste of time, energy, and should be viewed as a dereliction of duty. If you claim to be a progressive and you’re fine with Trump remaining in office, you’re insane. And if you claim to be a progressive and you’re going to vote for Trump himself? You’re certifiable.

Donald Trump exposes himself to be a danger to the Republic, and to the world, on an almost daily basis. Joe Biden has a health care policy with the wrong incentives. One of these things can be fixed in office. One can’t. If you claim to be some form of leftist or progressive, and you can’t see the difference, get an eye exam once that’s allowed again. This election is life or death for a whole lot of people, the kinds of people you claim to care about. Now it’s time to back it up.