The danger of a debate performance, amplified by airtime that exceeds the news, is that it tends to erase from their memory the context that voters need.
In fact, nothing about the words exchanged during last week’s presidential debate changes the candidates’ public service records or their personal character and integrity.
On one side, we have a convicted felon who has lied and cheated his way through business, elections, marriage, and even golf. He has promoted policies that favor the wealthy over the middle class and poor. He has installed a federal judiciary that has denied women reproductive health rights, gutted environmental and corporate protections against fraud, and done everything in his power to obstruct the prosecution of Trump’s crimes. By the way, he has also tried to overthrow the government. We know our neighbor from Mar-a-Lago well: Donald Trump is a bad man.
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On the other hand, we have Joe Biden, a good man with decades of public leadership and collaborative, practical work on the issues, who continues to build on the towering achievements of a career dedicated to democracy and the public good. To name a few:
Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which passed despite fierce partisan opposition, helped get the economy back on track through the pandemic. The Labor Department estimates that 15 million jobs have been created under Biden’s leadership. Month after month, more jobs are being created, with unemployment at remarkably low levels, benefiting people at all income levels. Jobs in technology and manufacturing are returning to our shores. And the administration continues to fight for the working class with its support for child care and student loan relief for those who need it most.
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Instead, Trump and the Republican Party contributed to the economy in the form of a massive tax cut for those who needed it least, unnecessarily widening the budget deficit and disempowering the IRS, making it much harder to collect the taxes the wealthy owed.
Those of us who recognize the urgent threat of climate change see a stark contrast between Biden’s efforts to accelerate the transition to alternative energy sources and Trump’s rejection of a scientific consensus that cries out for action. That, just as Trump dismissed vaccines during the pandemic while promoting fanciful miracle cures, Biden let the adults in the room call the shots; the results were plain to see.
When we talk about public health, we must not forget that millions of Americans owe their health insurance to Biden. Although it was not mentioned in the debate, he played a significant role in the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
At every turn of the debate, even when immigration wasn’t the topic, Trump conjured up images of invading hordes of terrorists, blaming Biden for the onslaught. Contrast that with Biden’s relentless efforts to find a comprehensive, bipartisan solution. Let’s remember: A solution was at hand, with bipartisan agreement, until Trump pulled the rug out from under it to advance his campaign, perpetuating the suffering of so many individuals on both sides of the border.
Compare Biden’s bipartisan approach to the many GOP-led congressional hearings that have morphed from legitimate policy investigations into kangaroo courts. Compare Biden’s bipartisan approach to Trump’s burden of partisanship on the Supreme Court and others below it; to Trump’s pledge to once again use the Justice Department to exact revenge on political enemies. Just wait until he’s free to act with even greater impunity, confident in the Supreme Court’s support last week for his ability to claim immunity from prosecution as president.
We believe that those calling for Joe Biden’s replacement on the Democratic ticket are too caught up in the moment. We look forward to great things from his second term. But his doubters are being politically unrealistic in a way that threatens to hand Donald Trump another term even more disastrous than his last.
All efforts now must be directed at increasing voter participation in the elections, among all who benefit from Biden’s work. Enthusiasm must not be extinguished by internal quarrels. After all, these cannot possibly lead to a better result than what Biden gives the country every day.
This article originally appeared on the Palm Beach Post: Florida Democrats: Stop Fighting Over Biden’s Debate Performance
