2020 is an election year for the United States. As such, the Democratic Party is currently
in the midst of a very consequential primary election to choose their nominee to face Donald
Trump and hopefully become the next President of the United States.
At this point in the race, the Democratic Primary has narrowed to just 2 major candidates:
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Vice- President Joe Biden. Recently, as the
primary elections have become more heated, there has been lots of strong debate between the
Sanders and Biden camps, even on this side of the border. Just this week in fact, the Munk
Debates released a podcast debate titled “Be it resolved, Joe Biden is the Democratic Party’s best
hope for winning in 2020”.
Many of these Sanders vs. Biden discussions have focused on 3 major points: platform,
mental capacity, and electability. Sanders supporters are adamant that Bernie’s “democratic
socialist” positions and calls for a progressive “revolution”, with policy planks such as universal
healthcare, support for the Green New Deal, a wealth tax on the richest Americans, free post-
secondary education for the less fortunate, free public university for all students, and free
childcare are crucial for reforming the United States into a society that works for everyone.
They also fear that Joe Biden is trending towards senility, pointing out his stuttering and
penchant for public gaffes as evidence that Biden no longer has the mental fortitude required to
properly manage and run a country. Finally, Sanders supporters point to Hillary Clinton’s
failures in the 2016 election as a large reason why a moderate establishment candidate like Joe
Biden isn’t the right choice against Donald Trump.
Democratic primary voters that support Joe Biden believe almost the opposite. They say
that battleground states and minorities are much more supportive of moderate policies, that
Biden’s primary victories in the southern US and in crucial states like Michigan show that he can
build a “diverse coalition” to defeat Trump (unlike Sanders’ mostly white and younger aged base
of support). They dismiss the insinuations that Biden has suffered mental decline, pointing out
has he has always struggled with a stutter and been prone to making mistakes in speeches. Some
even suggest that this may make him more relatable.
Personally, as a young Canadian political junkie, I’ve found myself swayed by both of
these perspectives to some extent over the course of the primary. Lately though, I’ve personally
thought up my own theory about why Joe Biden seems to be leading in the primary race. This
theory may not have much basis in data, but it has humoured my logic so perhaps you, the
reader, will find it worth some consideration:
The last 4 years under Donald Trump have been very jarring for the United States and the
rest of the world. The perceived disorder in the White House and increase in racially charged
rhetoric [1] have been divisive. Partisan behaviour has skyrocketed among the population and it
seems that America has become much angrier (possibly at the cost of rationality).
In all this turbulence, I think that the general American population has lost sight of the
collaborative principles of policy making. Cults of personality have taken hold at both extremes
of the political spectrum, with “Bernie Bros” and “MAGA” supporters clamouring to drown out
and isolate more moderate voices. Still, Joe Biden seems on track to win the Democratic
nomination as moderate voices coalesce around him.
I don’t think that Biden is leading the primary because of his platform. I bet that you
would be hard-pressed to find someone in America that knows what Biden’s major policy ideas
are. Rather, Biden is winning because of he is a grandfather figure in American politics.
Harmless—if a bit embarrassing at times—he is a trustworthy person in the minds of Americans.
He is probably one of the safest options Americans could choose to lead their country after 4
years of Trump’s mayhem. A Joe Biden Presidency would completely kill the intensity that the
current White House is creating. He can be trusted not to do any thing extreme and that he will
bring the executive branch of government back to the normalcy of 2012. I don’t think most
Americans actually expect Biden to actively run the entire country, but he will appoint relatively
inoffensive people who can do that job. Biden would take on the role of Grandfather-in-Chief,
reassuring Americans that they can sleep soundly, that his government will work to turn back the
clocks in Washington and try to erase away the last 4 years. There will be no major policy push
that will keep Americans on their toes. Every decision will occur only with the support of public
opinion and focus groups.
I know that this may sound boring. But I imagine that lots of Americans crave a boring
government right now. A government where you get what you see and nothing more. That
sounds very much like Joe Biden. And that may just be why American end up electing him to
become the face of the next Democratic government.
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