Joe Biden: The president the nation needs

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. must be elected president of the United States of America come November. He is the man who can walk the nation back from the edge of chaos, repairing what the current president has attempted to destroy.

Biden has essential qualities for a leader — compassionate, focused, kind, competent and a work ethic honed in his blue-collar childhood and years in public service.

He is someone who knows how to develop and implement complex policy focused on improving the lives of people, not the politicians in charge. He is a man who can build relationships, not just between lawmakers from the two parties, but in the world, so the United States can regain respect from allies and enemies alike. He understands the art of compromise without sacrificing principle, all essential if the country is to move past partisan stalemate.

But the qualities that make Biden the right leader right now can only be put to work for the country if voters take control.

For that to happen, all across the nation voters must get to the polls — a record turnout is necessary to send President Donald Trump and the enabling Republican Party a firm message. Their inept, autocratic and divisive time in power needs to end. Trump must be fired.

The nation cannot afford four more years of Trump, an impeached president presiding over a loss of American stature in the world. His failure at managing the coronavirus pandemic — one that has cost more than 200,000 Americans their lives — makes his reelection unthinkable, largely because he did not take the threat seriously.

He failed to prepare the nation for the pandemic, mocked those who took proper public health precautions, hosted a superspreader event at the White House and emerged from his own bout with the disease willing to put his own staff and security at risk, even while contagious. Simply put: He is unfit.

Nearly 500 former national security experts have endorsed Biden for president, signing a letter supporting the former vice president and making clear they do not believe the current president is up for the challenges of the office. The Army’s former No. 2 officer, Gen. Peter Charelli, told NPR, “I believe the current administration is a real threat to the republic.”

It is a threat that underscores the importance of this election. This is not a matter of preferring tax breaks for the wealthy versus providing more assistance to the needy. It’s not about restricting or expanding reproductive rights; a drill, baby, drill energy policy; trade wars with China; or even the all-important justice selections for the Supreme Court.

No, this election is about a president and a party who believe winning is the only thing. The president’s campaign is recruiting some 50,000 poll watchers to oversee the election — all the while Trump screams fraud and election rigging. He is undermining confidence in the institutions that have kept the United States a representative democracy for more than 200 years.

Beyond the importance of maintaining democratic institutions for our children and grandchildren, a vote for Biden would give the United States the opportunity to find its best self again. Trump has spent his time as president appealing to the worst of human nature, seldom turning from an opportunity to be petty, divisive or cruel.

He wants to strip health insurance from Americans, failing to provide any alternative despite the pressure of a pandemic. His policy of separating children from their parents at the southern border is a stain on our nation’s reputation. He has flirted with white supremacists, failing to condemn their hatred and welcoming their support. His immigration policies are an abomination for the nation that welcomed his mother and grandfather just decades ago. He has shamed us.

With Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president, the nation can turn from this chapter of ugliness and begin repairing the damage to the nation. Biden and Harris have plans to expand health care coverage for people, adding a public option to the Affordable Care Act and lowering the age for Medicare eligibility to 60. They are committed to dealing with climate disruption with a $2 trillion plan that would invest in a green economy while slashing carbon emissions.

Biden understands the nation must deal with the racial wrongs of the past, facing our history with courage and a determination to do better. His selection of the extremely qualified and trailblazing Harris to serve on the ticket signals his sincerity on dealing with the issue of race. If elected, not only would Harris be the first female vice president, but also the first Black and Asian American in that office.

The nation badly needs calm in the Oval Office, and Biden is the right man to lead this effort. He has worked through tragedy his entire adult life — whether the death of his wife and daughter in a car crash decades ago or the cancer that felled his son, Beau. Biden understands that finding purpose makes even the hardest times of life worthwhile.

He is ready to be president of all the people, a leader too busy to tweet at his “enemies” and ready to engage with the world without bluster or threat. He will read his briefing papers, listen to scientific experts, stop cozying up to dictators and renew alliances with our friends. Joe Biden pays his taxes. He demonstrates a big heart, a deep faith in God and a commitment to serve the people of the United States. All of them.

For president, The New Mexican endorses Joe Biden.