It's still Biden vs Trump. One question remains: what kind of country will we be after the election?
This moment offers a choice between entire value systems and offers paths towards goals that are incompatible with each other.
On Monday, President Joe Biden sent a letter to Democrats everywhere. The letter acknowledges the difficult discussions he has had since the debate. He says he has listened, and he concludes that he is the “best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024 and is “firmly committed to staying in this race.” Whether you agree with him or not, I suspect the discussion is now over.
Every moment since June 27th has been consumed with questions about whether Joe is the strongest candidate to take on Donald Trump. It is important to put that into context: the discussion has not been whether Mr. Trump would in fact be a better president. The New York Times’ crusade to get Mr. Biden to drop out focused on Biden’s age, but not once did it pretend our future would be in better hands with Mr. Trump back in the White House.
The question of who the Democrats will nominate is likely over. One question remains. That question should not be framed as who will win in November, but what kind of a country will we be after the election.
We stand at one of those forks in our historical progress. Mr. Trump and MAGA offer one choice. Mr. Biden and his supporters- Democrats and Republicans- offer another one. In his letter, Joe describes those two futures. Like that vast majority of Americans, I favor one and fear the other in equal measure.
Photo Credit: Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times
Unlike previous elections, where Americans shared goals but differed on the means to achieve them, this moment offers a choice between entire value systems. Will we remain a pluralistic democracy, or will we engage in massive expulsions and racial profiling? Will women be afforded agency over their own reproductive systems or will legislators tell them when they must have babies? Will votes be counted, or will we discard ballots by pretending there’s fraud? Will corporate power be checked by a democratic government, or will government be its handmaiden?
There is one thing that many will find “normal” about this election. For many, neither candidate is their first choice. That’s fine. Politics is often heartbreaking. But far more importantly, it is about our future.
Democrats showed, in their week and a half of reflection, that we are not the Party that plays “follow the leader.” We ask questions. Joe Biden looks old? Democrats ask a lot of tough questions. Donald Trump gets convicted of felonies? His crowd rushes to say it was rigged and he’s a victim.
This, in a way, describes the futures on offer. One side offers the freedom to think your own thoughts, to be who you are, to question everything. The other offers the certainty of blindly following orders.
In his letter, Joe wrote, “I have no doubt,” he wrote, “that I -and we- can and will beat Donald Trump.”
So long as we understand what’s at stake, I share his optimism.