While rebutting another post here on Lemmy, I ran into this. This says exactly what I want to say.
I am not a friend of Biden’s Administration. I think they drug their feet over a variety of things ranging from holding Trump and his goons accountable for January 6th through rulemaking on issues like OTC Birth Control and abortion rights, and yes, I think he’s too quick to please big business. But then I remember what the alternative is, and … well, disappointed in Biden or not, I’m voting for him. Because my wife is a Black bisexual goth woman, four strikes under Team Pepe’s tent. And I have my own strikes for marrying her as a White dude, and respecting her right to not have kids since she doesn’t want them is another strike against me. And I care about my Non-Christian, Gay, Transgender, and Minority friends, and will never willingly subject them to Team Pepe.
Alright, I’ll bite. Like I said, I’m not interested into getting into a long drawn out whataboutism thread, so I’ll just state my opinion and leave it at that.
Despite being the moderate candidate, Biden has turned out to be rather progressive in practice.
He has achieved quite a lot, despite a razer thin lead in the senate (which includes fussy independents), and a completely dysfunctional republican house majority. And an overwhelmingly corrupt conservative SCOTUS fighting him at every turn, as well as a ton of blatantly partisan lower court judges. And remnants of corrupt trump cronies still planted throughout unelected positions. And a mess of a pandemic to recover from.
Despite all that, he has amassed a ton of wins. Massive student loan forgiveness, which is incomplete due to Republican and SCOTUS interference, but has still made some huge wins. Funding for all sorts of social programs like food for underprivileged kids, large reduction of costs for Medicare, fixed some of the worst pharmaceutical gouging including capping insulin prices, increased taxes on the rich, etc.
You mentioned him squashing the rail union strike, but IIRC shortly after, Biden got them almost all of what they wanted.
And I’m sure you’re tired of hearing it, but he’s the only candidate in play that can win against Trump. And despite the popular nihilistic opinion spouted on lemmy, there actually is a massive difference between the two parties right now. It is not hyperbole when we say this election is about democracy vs fascism. Republicans are taking away women’s rights, attempting to take away LGBT rights, demonizing immigrants to a degree that is reminiscent of Nazi Germany. And again, that is not hyperbole.
Also, I see the argument here that letting the Dems fail will push them further left. I don’t buy that argument in the slightest. If anything, it will drive them further to the right, to capture the non-fanaticized conservatives who want to jump ship as MAGA steers them into the storm.
I’m not saying Biden is perfect. He’s a corporate dem, continues support for Isreal, and is far too old for comfort. But he’s the best we have for this election. And honestly, besides not yanking support for Isreal, he has been doing a great job in a very difficult era.