The Biden-Harris Imperative
- by Steve Garone, Member, Wayland Democratic Town Committee
NOTE: Views expressed in this blog are those of the author, and not necessarily those of any other WDTC members. 

This blog is the first of a series to be published by members of the Wayland Democratic Town Committees and guest contributors.

The past almost 4 years have been difficult ones for most Democrats - we've watched an autocratic president work to erode our democratic institutions, offend major segments of our society, and even encourage violence. Even non-Democrats are thinking long and hard about what the next 4 years will look like if Donald Trump is reelected president.

Autocrats thrive on many things, but one of the things they both encourage and count on is disunity of their opposition. Our "big tent" brings with it a span of political ideologies and viewpoints that are sometimes difficult to reconcile. "Left and right" among Democrats fosters a push-pull that can leave one side or the other, or both, disillusioned, the net effect of which can be lost votes and, possibly, elections. The old saying "Democrats fall in love; Republicans fall in line" hold here - perhaps more so this year as we watch Republicans of many flavors abandon their ideals to fall behind a president whom they believe is the path to reelection.
 
When it comes to the presidential election, this year is arguably like no other in the lifetime of anyone reading this. Differences between candidates are often stark, but in this election those differences go to the very heart of the survival of our democracy and who we are. For many, Joe Biden is far from an ideal choice. The realities of our system are, however, that either Joe Biden or Donald Trump will occupy the White House for the next 4 years, so for Democrats the only question is, who should that be. 

In a later column to be published to this site soon, I will examine the complex but important issue of determining which voters to focus on and why, and the messages we can use to make the case that voting for Biden is the best thing one can do to advance any Democratic cause regardless of where one is on the political spectrum. 

Every vote is important, and every voter is to be respected. For now, it is also important to remember that sometimes elections are best explained using the natural laws of the universe - in this case, arithmetic. If one wants Donald Trump out of the White House, and one has a vote to cast to help make that happen (which means voting for Joe Biden), and one does not do that, arithmetically the net effect is to help Trump win. The analysis takes the romance out of politics to be sure, and may even feel insulting to some, but can we afford any other reality this year?

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