Why I'm Open to Uncle Joe in 2020

He's old. He's white. He's straight. He's a male. He didn't do well in 2008. He had issues in 1988. He wasn't nice to Hillary after 2016.

All of these are reasons being given for why we shouldn't back Joe Biden in 2020, and I've already dismissed every single one of them. I voted for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, but I didn't vote for either one because of their race or gender. I voted for both because of their positions, and their qualifications, and the plans they were bringing forward for the country. While I liked Hillary enough to work for her twice, I have absolutely no issue with people who want to run in 2020 making a critique of her campaign in 2016, because she lost. If we're going to hold past losses against any potential candidates in 2020, don't we have to credit him for being on two national winning tickets too?

I like Joe Biden, and I could see him having a broader societal appeal, even if his appeal isn't as deep with some sectors of the Democratic Party. He's likable, he's a human being, and frankly that's something that has usually been lacking for Democrats over the past 30-40 years. He could and would campaign in Wisconsin, and in Wilkes-Barre, PA, and in Toledo, OH, and Dubuque, IA. A Democrat cannot win an election by just campaigning in the largest population centers of the states we want to put in play, and ignore the rest of the country. Joe Biden would not need an algorithm to know where to campaign, and if he had one, the answers would not send him in a loop from Cleveland to Philadelphia, to Charlotte, to Miami.

This isn't an endorsement of Joe Biden though. A man in his late 70's running for President isn't the optimal pick. His record has blotches- from his defense of credit card companies, to his performance on the Anita Hill hearing, to his reliable gaffes- there's plenty of reasons to not marry one's self to Joe quite yet. While I'm not bothered by his critique of Clinton and her campaign (politics is a rough sport, and her operation did work hard to box him out of 2016), I'd like to actually know what the grounds are by which he thinks he's better positioned right now. He says he's the only Democrat to beat Trump- why should we believe him?

I'm not on the Joe train right now. I'm also not trying to stand in front of it either. The most important factor in picking a 2020 nominee should be their ability to win the damn election. That may mean nominating someone who doesn't make you feel excited and happy inside. I will not vote for the most liberal candidate, just because they're the most liberal. I will not vote for any candidate, just for their historical value. I'm not in this to take part in social engineering, because I don't see any value in that. If you care about the people the Democrats represent- women, minorities, the poor, religious minorities, the LGBT community, generally those facing the stiffest odds in life- it's more important to elect a President who will stand up for them than to elect a President who fits a desired profile.

So it's on Joe to show me he'll fight for our base, and that he'll win.