An American Case for Biden

The Omnivore did a Positive / Affirmative case for Joe Biden (as a request) but felt that a second article was warranted: if you are an American--and not a Trumpaloo (for whom there is NO case for Biden as you would be literally voting against your own self-image)--then there's a good reason to jump on the No Malarkey Express in November.

This can apply to progressives who felt that Elizabeth Warren would have been better (Maybe!) or to those who felt a candidate of color would have been preferable (Booker? Booker! Harris!). In other words, anyone who had a different candidate in mind and is now looking at what happened in the primary and wants to come to grips with Biden, of all people, pulling out the nomination.

It is also meant for the persuadable Trump voter. Trump is in the midst of getting a bunch of us unnecessarily killed and that probably doesn't deserve to earn your vote--so, hey? Give the idea of voting for Biden a test-spin!

This argument includes:

1. A clear-cut case for Biden as a legitimate nominee
2. A non-opinion based argument for Biden over Trump in the general
3. A look at the various "never-Biden" positions to see if they rise to the level of a good counterargument.

1. Biden As the Nominee

There is a great deal of digital ink spilled about how Biden is "unexciting" or "just another white old guy" or "over the hill," etc. As this section ignores the NeverBiden movement, it is fair to say that as a generic white-guy coming out of central casting there is a pretty easy objective case for Joe Biden: A Generic Democrat routinely beats Trump in all the polling aggregates.

You can argue that there were more historic, exciting, or deserving candidates in the race--but you cannot argue there was a more generic candidate--perhaps EVER--than Joe Biden.

2. Biden vs. Trump

There are many cases to be made for voting in a mouldy ham sandwich over Trump--but if you are looking for an objective one, that means you do not  believe that Trump is 100% dumpster-fire and, perhaps, has merits that are not entirely canceled by his . . . unique . . . approach to executive governance.

In this case, though, we *must* have some basic facts straight--some stuff The Omnivore and a Trump-leaning (but not Trumpaloo) might even agree upon. In this case, it is the COVID-19 response: specifically lack of attention to critical expertise in taking necessary action because o uniquely Trumpian failures (i.e. "This would NOT have happened credibly to any other president.").

The smoking gun comes from today's NYT article: Experts in the government--working with experts in the field--realized what was coming--quite clearly in many cases. They saw the administration acting too slowly and they wanted to tell him the dangers.

Alas, it did not go so well and it is legitimately hard to imagine another administration throwing a fit about a stock market decline to the point where the experts would hold off on life-saving information.

If you do not believe this is #fakenews then what possible defense is there when we can see that Trump's titular successes (awesome stock markets, better deals, booming economy) are all basically destroyed by a problem that many saw coming and which, with proper action, could have been mitigated far more than it is.

But Isn't Biden . . .
There are going to be a lot of attacks on Biden. Rape allegations are serious and anyone who isn't a Republican should take them seriously. The argument that Biden is "Soft on China" is looking like one of the big approaches of the Trump re-election campaign. There will be more (most field tested by Team Bernie at one point or another).

The key here is two fold:
1. The primary was imperfect (as it must be)--but Joe is the nominee. At this point what is your moral obligation to America? The answer is obvious: Vote for Biden. Trump has all of Biden's weaknesses or alleged weaknesses turned up to 11.

2. If you feel that Joe crossed the Moral Event Horizon and you simply cannot vote for him (the Tara Reade allegations here, specifically) then you need to introspect and see if it's really a line in your ethical sand or just the emotional cost of making the vote. If it's the former does that line really hold up to the massive damage that Trump will inflict on the vulnerable? It doesn't--it pretty much can't. If it's the latter, well, that's not how you'd want someone with your life in their hands to make a decision that would hurt or kill you ("Sorry, bud--I can't get you out of the serpent pit--it'd mean I was wrong all along and I just can't bear it.")

The fundamental result here is that if you, personally, stood to be viscerally hurt by Trump you would vote for Biden. You would want others to vote for Biden. It's a do-unto-others argument.

Conclusions
So, there you have it--the neutral / American case for Biden.