2024 is the first election cycle that I will be able to vote in, which, for someone who is heavily interested and involved in current events and politics, is an exciting landmark. This year, however, I look at the election cynically, and come November, I can’t see myself casting a vote for President Joe Biden.
For at least the past two election cycles, figuring out who to back has felt like picking the lesser of two evils. Nonetheless, I had every intention of backing whomever the Democratic candidate ended up being, even with the notoriously unpopular “Sleepy Joe” looking like the likely candidate. His policy initiatives seemed promising – even though, in many cases, they aren’t going far enough – and listening to him speak on the Smartless podcast with Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes, he didn’t sound as senile as he’s been so frequently made out to be. He even joined the United Auto Workers on strike in September, an unprecedented move for a president.
In the past few months, however, Biden has entirely – perhaps irreconcilably – lost my support, and I am more likely to vote for a third party candidate.
The president’s steadfast support for Israel as the country initiated a genocide in Gaza shattered my support for him essentially from day one of Israel’s retaliation to the October 7th Hamas attack. Maybe if Biden’s administration had sought peace, my feelings might be different, but with each day that passes, Biden is running out of chances to change my mind. Of course, he’s not unique. With few exceptions, both Democrat and Republican politicians have backed Israel and anything they do for the country’s “defense.” There have been slight shifts in the Democratic Party in the last four years, especially among the “Squad,” a group of eight progressive-leaning members of Congress. Representative Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American representative in US history, as well as Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Cori Bush, and, historically, Independent Senator Bernie Sanders have broken from the center of the party on this issue. Nonetheless, whether because they are bought out by the American-Israeli Political Action Committee, or they cynically see a political advantage in it, Biden and much of the left lacks credibility of any moral principles by not adhering to their – and truthfully the US’s – stated values: freedom, democracy, and human rights.
Any claims that Biden has done near enough to prevent Israel’s onslaught on Gaza lack empirical evidence. Despite “urging” Israel to “reduce” civilian casualties, Biden and his aides – especially John Kirby of the National Security Council – have repeatedly neglected efforts to minimize or prevent the genocide in Gaza, cast civilian deaths as necessary collateral damage, and dehumanized Palestinians, all while bypassing Congress not once but twice to give “emergency” military aid to Israel. Biden personally has touted debunked anecdotes about Hamas beheading babies, questioned the number of Palestinian casualties, and backed Israel’s violations of international law by encouraging attacks on hospitals. As Israel maintains a near-complete siege of Gaza, using weapons and tactics, such as the use of white phosphorus, which go against international humanitarian law, and indiscriminately bombing neighborhoods, hospitals, ambulances, schools, mosques, and fleeing civilians, the inhumanity is desperately clear. If you don’t believe me, you should heed the word of the international community, such as former apartheid state South Africa – which is currently charging Israel with genocide in the International Court of Justice – as well as the United Nations (UN), which continues to recriminate Israel and the US and point to clear violations of international law.
Meanwhile, the US repeatedly rejected a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire, single-handedly vetoing it against a swell of international support. Looking at the comparison between the Biden administration’s response to Ukraine and Gaza would be laughable if it weren’t so blatantly racist; it has proven to me that Biden and many Democrats see white lives as more important than black and brown lives. Certainly, there are differences between the two, but the overarching themes bear similarities and offer a useful comparison for the US’s response to conflict. For all the left’s talk of supporting minorities and increasing diversity, they seem awfully content with supporting militarism and violence abroad whenever the opportunity arises, whether that be in Iraq, where 81 Democratic representatives and 29 Democratic senators joined Republicans in approving a deadly invasion of Iraq based on shaky claims of the country harboring weapons of mass destruction, or in Vietnam, where Democratic president Lyndon B. Johnson initiated a war which resulted in thousands of American and millions of Vietnamese deaths. Now, it’s Gaza.
There are of course other reasons why I might reject Biden, but none of them single-handedly or even collectively impact my decision not to vote for him as much as his intentional negligence in supporting civilians in Gaza. His shaky record on addressing climate change, problematic immigration policy, and age are all aspects which make me pause but for which Biden is far from alone in his faults. With Biden’s handling of Israel and Gaza, however, very little could get me to vote for him now, and it puts all these other reservations I hold into a different perspective.
I will not vote for Biden in November as a matter of principle and morals. Many liberals are quick to point out that Trump would have been just as bad or worse on Gaza, but recently the US election has always been a choice between two evils. I worry that the left has lost sight of the values they stand for – or maybe, indeed, don’t stand for – in their drive to win elections. I can’t bring myself to vote for Biden because it condones his actions; it tells the Democratic Party that they can shamelessly back a genocide and still win the presidential election because the other party’s policies are so despicable. When applied elsewhere, there is even more reason for me to withhold my vote. On climate or border policy, for example, Biden’s loss may teach the Democrats that their voter base will not stand for superficial, centrist “solutions” to issues which are so dire.
Sure, I’m scared about what a Republican president might do if they are elected, but if another horrible four years under Trump is what this country needs to wake up from the complacency of the current political climate, then so be it. I will not let the right’s anti-democratic tilt – and the left’s tactical fearmongering over it – bring me to vote for a Democratic Party that is functionally the same. Enough is enough, for if we continue the current political trajectory, it clearly has dire consequences for the entire world.