The American People Deserve Better

Despite what Republicans and right-wing media outlets say, Joe Biden is not a bleeding heart liberal, and certainly is not a radical leftist. Yet that very radicalism which those on the right demonize and falsely attribute to President Biden may be the very thing this country needs to solve its problems. Joe Biden will never be the candidate of change, Marianne Williamson could be.

In the GOP response to President Biden’s State of the Union address, former press secretary of President Trump and current governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, asserted that Joe Biden’s presidency “has been hijacked by the radical left.” Despite his career which has routinely epitomized the status quo, conservatives from across the country have frequently described Biden as either a “radical Leftist” or as being controlled by the “Radical Left.” As a member of the “Radical Left”, a supporter of Bernie Sanders in his presidential campaign, and a fierce critic of President Biden’s administration, I can say with complete certainty that Joe Biden is not a leftist in any manner of the word. 

Modern progressives, from Bernie Sanders to Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez, position themselves as fighting for working people, against a system which has been corrupted by the influence of corporate money, a system which Joe Biden epitomizes and real progressives despise. There is perhaps no clearer incident to demonstrate the blatant and bipartisan corruption which colludes our government than the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations’ pathetic “regulation” (or lack thereof) of the rail industry. 

After a series of railcar derailments, the Obama administration instituted a policy requiring that some trains carrying hazardous material be equipped with new braking technology to replace the “Civil War-era braking systems” which had preceded them. The National Transportation Safety Board recommended that the Obama administration apply the new break requirements to all trains carrying hazardous material, but the chemical industry lobbied to narrow the rules' scope. While Norfolk Southern, the company behind the recent railway debacle in East Palestine, Ohio, said initially that new braking systems could “reduce train-stopping distances by as much as 60 percent”, the rail industry later successfully lobbied for President Trump to remove the Obama-era regulation. The institution of modern braking systems for the transport of hazardous material should be common sense, but after spending 6 million dollars in donations to the GOP in the 2016 election, the interests of the rail companies were prioritized over the safety of the public, and profit was prioritized over people. Since being inaugurated, President Biden has failed to reinstate the regulation and in doing so, has failed to prevent a predictable catastrophe. 

In acknowledgement of the incentives inherent to a capitalist system, it is necessary to recognize that corporations will not voluntarily shrink their profit margins for the safety of the public. While those at the top benefit from such a ruthless pursuit of profit, the rest of us suffer the consequences. This is precisely where the government must play a crucial regulatory role. Where the interests of the few (businesses) come in direct conflict with the priorities of everyday working people, the needs of the vast majority of our nation must come first, even if billion dollar corporations find it inconvenient. If the government must act as a force to protect the public from the negative externalities of corporations, it stands to reason that politicians, those in control of government, should make the same commitment. However, the political establishment has failed to do so, and as such has failed to serve the public. Throughout the entirety of his career, Joe Biden has consistently stood with those moneyed interests which further propelled his political ambitions while the American people suffered the consequences of his malfeasance. 

In 1994, then Senator Joe Biden authored the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act which provided funds for 100,000 new police officers, “encouraged police officers to carry out more drug-related arrests,” and provided more money for state prisons. In 1975, Biden co-sponsored a bill that “would limit the power of courts to order school desegregation with busing,” and in 2002, Biden voted in favor of the Iraq war. More recently, Joe Biden has chosen to maintain Trump-era immigration policy and has further inflamed tensions with Russia through his trip to an embattled Ukraine. Regardless of one’s stance on any of the aforementioned issues, these positions are indicative of allegiance to the establishment, not “radical socialism”. President Biden has pursued a moderate strategy for the entirety of his political career, but given his 51.7% disapproval rating, he might want to reconsider his status quo strategy.

Bernie Sanders’ campaigns captured the dreams of a public frustrated with the establishment and yearning for some help from their government, affirming a working-class vision of what America can be. But after Democrats nominated Hillary Clinton in 2016, Donald Trump won the election by co-opting working class language which seemed credible in comparison to the American public’s polled perception of Clinton as a corrupt, untrustworthy representative of the establishment. Since 1996, the share of the Democratic vote with a highschool education or less has declined from 51% to 28% and the Democratic monopolization of self-identified Latino voters has begun to crack. As these shifts within the Democratic Party have taken place, Republicans have once again solidified their image amongst the American people as the party “better able to keep [the] country prosperous,” a troubling sign for Democrats.

Looking forward to the 2024 presidential cycle, many Democrats fear that Biden may be too old for another campaign. In fact, most Democratic voters would prefer someone else. In spite of this, President Biden has made it clear he intends on running, and with prominent progressives like Bernie Sanders and Rho Khana already promising they won’t oppose the President for the Democratic Party nomination, those on the political left in the United States are searching for someone to challenge Joe Biden. Marrianne Williamson wants to be that someone. 

Marriane Williamson is a spiritual self-help author who announced on March 4th that she will be challenging Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination for president. In response, most people’s reaction will likely be “who?”. However,Williamson has been preparing for this moment for years and intends to mount a serious challenge. After a short-lived presidential bid in 2020, Marianne Williamson dropped out before the Iowa caucus to endorse Bernie Sanders. Known for her appeal to spiritualism and morality, Williamson promised in 2020, if elected, to establish a Department of Peace, a Department of Children and Youth, and to pursue a policy of cash reparations for African-American descendants of slaves. Williamson was seen by many in 2020 as “kooky” on the debate stage; she now aims to confound those expectations. In recent years, and even more so in recent months, Williamson has made her rounds on podcasts, news shows, and youtube channels, specifically attempting to solicit support from the remnants of the Bernie Sanders movement. Since dropping out in 2020, she has adopted Sanders’ Medicare for All position and cast herself as an “FDR Democrat.” On February 20th, via Twitter Williamson said,

“Trickle-down economics has been a disaster for this country. It has completely destroyed America’s middle class. Democrats won’t win on the message that we can help people survive the disaster. We will win by saying we’re going to end it. Universal healthcare, tuition-free state colleges and universities, a guaranteed living wage, free childcare, paid maternity & paternity leave & guaranteed sick pay - like in every other advanced democracy! - will begin to right the ship.” 

Marianne Williamson has been critiqued by many as having politics based on feelings, not policy. The truth is that Williamson’s views are shaped by reality. Recent polls have 64.7% of Americans saying the country is on the wrong track, 78% of Americans are dissatisfied with the “moral and ethical climate” of the nation, 74% are dissatisfied with “the size and influence of major corporations,” and 71% are dissatisfied with “our system of government and how well it works.” While 64% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, Joe Biden plans to run on a strong economy; Williamson points out the absurdity of such an approach. “I think that speaks to the disconnect between the analysis of party elites versus the struggle of everyday Americans,” she said in an interview with Politico. She continued her critique of the establishment,“We’re being asked to limit our political imaginations — to just accept the low unemployment and low inflation rate, that that is sort of the best we can get. But that is a hollow victory. The majority of Americans are still struggling to survive.”Williamson’s candidacy is more than a personal popularity contest, it is a fundamental question of hope and possibility. By challenging President Biden, Williamson is challenging us all to imagine a world that is dramatically different from our current hellscape, a better world, built together. In the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary Debate, Williamson pointed to Trump as an example of how hate can be used for political purposes and she put America on notice. She promised America, “I am going to harness love for political purposes… and love will win.”

Eli WeingerComment