Why I’m Voting for former VP Joe Biden

Quotes herein come from my earlier writings, so you can judge, if you wish, my consistency.  Consistency in applying principles (particularly to both sides of the political aisle) is good, but a consistent wrong position is not good and changes in circumstances can also may require a change of opinion.

In 2016, “as I lived in a non-contested state (Trump was certain to win Kansas), I had both the luxury and the responsibility to vote for neither candidate.”  So, I voted for Evan McMullin. 

I have voted for third-party candidates but have historically not been enthusiastic about forming a third major party.  A third party is of much greater appeal to me now, because our system has morphed into one which favors extremists and disunity.  (I also favor ranked-choice voting and some Congressional reforms that would improve our current system, but all of that is beyond the scope of this paper.)

In 2020, I’ll vote for Joe Biden, although I admit to having some fears regarding a Biden presidency.  In a companion paper, I’ve described “The (Unfortunate) Case For Voting for President Trump”.  I think President Trump should lose in a landslide, but the Democrats are keeping that from happening.

Clearly, I am voting against President Trump more so than for ex-VP Biden.

He is clearly unfit to be President. 

1.      President Trump respects very few (if any) people.  “Trump continually makes enemies unnecessarily.”  He can neither create nor retain positive relationships, mismanaging staff and allies.  He has been hugely more unnecessarily divisive than his two predecessors (both of whom I think were unnecessarily divisive).  President Trump brings out the worst behavior of his opponents.

2.      He also does not respect issues.  “Trump lacks the mental discipline/stamina to stay on topic.”

3.      “Trump may have the loosest lips of any politician in our lifetime.”  His lack of self-control creates security risk and undermines opportunities to accomplish positive results.

4.      “he does not seem to understand the concept of truth.  … A person who is amoral does not have a way of judging right from wrong.  Trump’s lying seems similar to being amoral.  He just knows what he wants to be the case and says it.  Truth or falsehood is irrelevant to him.”   Because his statements generally are so blatantly false, he is incapable of generating trust.

5.      For the above reasons, President Trump does not earn respect from others.  Furthermore, “his self-praise is ridiculed and convinces people that he is incompetent.”  He claims responsibility for success which does not occur yet accepts no responsibility for anything that goes bad.

6.      He wants to impose his will on others, rather than to persuade them.

7.      Despite my very broad definition of intelligence, I have never been able to find intelligence in Trump.  “Trump unnecessarily continually creates opponents and unnecessarily arms them to defeat him” with his statements.  He would do much better in an election which focused on his policies, but he has buoyed ex-VP Biden, by making it an election about Trump, rather than issues. How smart is that?

8.      For the above reasons, I did not vote for Trump in 2016 but I hoped that he might rise to the occasion and that his "trumpeted" negotiating skills would have value.  Alas, he has very limited negotiating skills.  Bullying, ridicule and insincere praise are his primary tools.  He “does not understand the people with whom he is negotiating.”  “He is a very poor judge of how he affects people”, thinking that obviously insincere compliments will sway people on the other side of the table.  On the other hand, his fragile ego is easily swayed by insincere praise. 

There are myriad examples of statements and actions that demonstrate the above.  I don’t think there is any need to delineate them.

His handling of the pandemic reflects dereliction of duty.  I don’t criticize positions on opening or closing the economy if people have good reasons for their position.  (Note: some people mischaracterized the debate as “lives vs. profit”, not recognizing the tremendously negative impact on health that results from a lengthy recession or depression.)

However, when an emergency arises, it is critical for a leader to rally people to support a plan.  If the plan is sound, we must abide by it so it can work.  If the plan is unsound, we must abide by it (as long as it does not exacerbate the problem), so we can conclude that it does not work, then try something else.  In my opinion, Trump’s disdain for masks (for example) has been absolutely inexcusable.

He acknowledges that he intentionally understated the severity, claiming that he did so to avoid panic.  If he did so to avoid panic, he demonstrated serious lack of judgment.  Of course, given his lack of character and lack of honesty, probably few people believe that was his reason.

He also failed to marshal resources, except it seems for vaccine research.

I disagree with Trump on some other issues, but they are not necessarily disqualifying because there are so many issues in any political campaign. 

·        When addressing trade issues, you need to prioritize and build support from allies. 

·        I’m generally a high-tax guy.  We need to reduce debt.

·        And issues which transcend state lines (such as some environmental issues) need national coordination.  Those are not areas to slash federal staffing.

In fairness, there are some things that President Trump has done well  (court nominations, most of his deregulation, Palestinian situation, Kosovo vs. Serbia) but, to me, they pale in significance compared to the above.