If Biden is the next nominee, Republicans have won the political debate, because even when they lose, Democrats will push their beliefs for them. On almost every major issue that Democrats should care about, Biden has been on the wrong side of that issue throughout his career, and at least one of the other Democratic candidates has been on the right side of that issue.

If during the era of #MeToo we choose another man who can’t keep his hands off of women who haven’t consented to his touch (and then who jokes about it) who says (of Roe v Wade):

If we choose him, we clearly don’t care about women.

If during the era of #BlackLivesMatter, when we have finally acknowledged the impact of mass incarceration on black communities, we choose a man who didn’t just vote enthusiastically for the 1986 and 1988 Drug War Acts, but also wrote the 1994 Crime Bill, and continues to hold that:

“marijuana legalization is a mistake” — Joe Biden

If we choose him, we clearly don’t care about black people.

And to add insult to injury, if we ignore the Senate’s treatment of Anita Hill during Clarence Thomas’ Supreme Court hearing, when she accused Thomas of “inappropriate sexual behavior” — treatment over which he has denied any wrongdoing and she has refused to accept his nonapology — can we really say with a straight face that we support black women?

If during a time of student loan debt so crippling it is destroying our economy from the inside out, we choose the man who wrote the first law which exempted student debt from discharge under bankruptcy, and wrote subsequent laws expanding those exemptions, we clearly don’t value education, or care about the massive debt students take on.

If during a time of inequality so stark that the wealthiest three Americans are as wealthy as the bottom half of Americans, we choose the man who said

If we choose that man, we clearly aren’t ready to fight for a more equitable society that isn’t dominated by a few wealthy, powerful individuals.

If we can stare down the coming man-made climate genocide and — with the (environmental) barbarians at the gates — we choose a man who hasn’t signed a pledge to refuse fossil fuel money (as have 11 Democratic presidential candidates) — we clearly don’t care about leaving a habitable planet for future generations.

If while millennials voice their concerns about the generational issues we face, whether they be student loan debt or rapidly increasing inequality or the dangerous changes to our climate, we choose the man who said:

If we choose that man, we clearly don’t care about millennials.

If we can look at our decades of failed interventions abroad and choose a man who voted for the Iraq War, we clearly don’t care about having a less oppressive international bootprint.

If as the government spies more and more thoroughly on our citizens, we support the author of the 1995 Omnibus Counter Terrorism Bill (which went on to become the Patriot Act), we clearly don’t care about Americans’ privacy.

If we choose a man who supported the War in Iraq and programs which disproportionately surveilled Muslim-Americans everywhere from the internet to our airports, we also clearly don’t care about Muslims.

If at a time when the cops steal more from Americans via Civil Asset Forfeiture than robbers do, we choose a man who introduced Comprehensive Forfeiture Act, and continues to support it even without an arrest or conviction, are we really concerned about a police state?

If Biden can run his first campaign ad attacking Donald Trump for refusing to condemn neo-nazis, how should we feel about Biden saying in 2016 “[Donald Trump] is not a bad man”?

In other words, if Biden wins, we as Democrats can’t claim that we really care about marginalized people. We pay lip service to women, to black people, to Muslims, to the indebted and the poor, and to future generations who will suffer under climate change, but we’re unwilling to summon the political will to make the necessary substantive changes to society to fix those ails.

It’s not even a secret. Like his known history for being handsy, Biden has always been honest about who he is political.

And just like the Buttigieg of the 1970s and 1980s, Biden didn’t care much for issues.

…And because I know somebody is going to be on here talking about “OK BUT ARE YOU GONNA LET TRUMP WIN”?

Of course I’m not voting for Donald Trump. But let’s agree to stop using panic about Trump as a deflection from criticism of shitty Democrats during a primary, where the point is finding the best Democrat. Donald Trump isn’t running in the Democratic Primary. Let’s have an actual primary, and let’s elect a Democrat who stands for Democratic values, not Republican-lite values. That candidate is not Joe Biden.