I’ve spent way too much time reading various takes about how Joe Biden needs to step down as the Democratic nominee for someone better who will definitely win. Here’s the thing: no one can tell us who this perfect candidate is. All they know is that it just can’t be Joe.
This is not a strategy. This is chaos. This is a lack of discernment. This is various pundits and politicians (mostly affluent white men) jockeying to the person who brings down the president as candidate. If you ask them who this magical candidate is, they suddenly disappear. It’s a stupid game that only hurts the Democrats.
I firmly agree with Our Fearless Leader that Joe Biden deserves better. My favorite primary candidate lost out in 2020, and I just moved on and backed Biden as the nominee. And now he’s the nominee again, and I’ll back him again. He’s been a better president than I had anticipated, and he can do more good work if he can get a friendly Congress again.
None of the podcasters, pundits, politicians, and strategists out there blathering that “Joe must go” have the slightest idea who the perfect candidate is. And that means they’re going to find fault with e-v-e-r-y single suggestion. Deep down they only care about being The Most Right, even if they don’t know who the perfect candidate is. They just know it is not. Most of them think a second TFG term wouldn’t affect them. We can’t reason with them.
But we can ignore them. We can ignore their petulance at not being able to make an old man do what they want. We can ignore the insistence that because of how things are in July—before the conventions and especially before whatever horror show the GOP is going to put on next week—everything in November is lost.
More importantly, we can get involved in the actual work of getting Biden elected. It is simply false to say that he can’t be elected. Polls don’t vote, people do, and Biden can be if all of us get involved in voter registration efforts, get out the vote efforts, volunteering for local candidates, and volunteering for the Biden campaign.
Here are some ways you can get involved:
I have been volunteering for Postcards To Voters. https://postcardstovoters.org/
You can volunteer to help The Brennan Center For Justice. https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/ensure-every-american-can-vote/voting-reform/strengthening-voting-rights-act
Register to vote or send this to unregistered voters you know. https://www.vote.org/register-to-vote/
More places to help:
https://letamericavote.org/action/
Doing something always trumps despair. Get into Good Trouble.
I’ll leave you with a fine worksong.