To the Editor:
Re “Joe Biden Announces 2020 Run for President” (nytimes.com, April 25):
Joe Biden has spent his career being a true public servant. He arrives in this race with more knowledge and experience than every member of the Trump administration combined. He’s not looking to destroy the government and disregard the Constitution.
He’s man enough to recognize the diversity of voices within the Democratic Party and work considerately with them all. Run, Joe, run.
Suzanne Moniz
Providence, R.I.
To the Editor:
Joe Biden is a decent man, but he has not been a successful primary candidate in the past, and I do not think that we need another moderate Democrat. The country is fed up with the status quo.
As much as I liked Barack Obama, his halfhearted, pro-Wall Street response to the Great Recession cost the Democrats dearly. We need a more economically progressive candidate, one who is not afraid to stand up for the little guy. Such a candidate will reach across divisions of region, ethnicity and gender because he or she will appeal to a much larger constituency, the 99 percent.
The Democratic Party abandoned labor in the Clinton years, when the Republicans made “liberalism” a dirty word. Now we’ve seen the consequences of decades of Reaganomics, and they aren’t pretty. It’s time for the people to take back our country, and Joe Biden, as decent as he is, is not the man to do that.
Josh Hill
New London, Conn.
To the Editor:
Could Joe Biden beat President Trump? Yes. Would he be a good president? Yes. Those are the two most important questions, and I can’t yet answer those questions affirmatively for many of the declared candidates, much as I may like them or their policies. We’re in the “remains to be seen” stage on many of the 20.
One last factor for me places Joe ahead of the field. With his vast experience, he’s uniquely capable of being able to rebuild much of what Donald Trump has torn down or let atrophy, such as our State Department.
Amanda Marks
Los Angeles
To the Editor:
Joe Biden brings decades of experience and all the baggage that goes with that. He faces a number of huge hurdles. Can he extricate himself from the legacy of the Anita Hill hearings when women and minorities play a major part of the Democratic base? Can he free himself from the Wall Street, big money establishment base that hobbled Hillary Clinton?
And, perhaps most important, can he unite the party and not alienate its ascendant progressive base, as Mrs. Clinton failed to do, by moving to the left and picking a progressive as a running mate if nominated?
Paul Wortman
Providence, R.I.
Source: Read Full Article
Home » Analysis & Comment » Opinion | Cheers and Fears as Joe Biden Joins the Race
Opinion | Cheers and Fears as Joe Biden Joins the Race
To the Editor:
Re “Joe Biden Announces 2020 Run for President” (nytimes.com, April 25):
Joe Biden has spent his career being a true public servant. He arrives in this race with more knowledge and experience than every member of the Trump administration combined. He’s not looking to destroy the government and disregard the Constitution.
He’s man enough to recognize the diversity of voices within the Democratic Party and work considerately with them all. Run, Joe, run.
Suzanne Moniz
Providence, R.I.
To the Editor:
Joe Biden is a decent man, but he has not been a successful primary candidate in the past, and I do not think that we need another moderate Democrat. The country is fed up with the status quo.
As much as I liked Barack Obama, his halfhearted, pro-Wall Street response to the Great Recession cost the Democrats dearly. We need a more economically progressive candidate, one who is not afraid to stand up for the little guy. Such a candidate will reach across divisions of region, ethnicity and gender because he or she will appeal to a much larger constituency, the 99 percent.
The Democratic Party abandoned labor in the Clinton years, when the Republicans made “liberalism” a dirty word. Now we’ve seen the consequences of decades of Reaganomics, and they aren’t pretty. It’s time for the people to take back our country, and Joe Biden, as decent as he is, is not the man to do that.
Josh Hill
New London, Conn.
To the Editor:
Could Joe Biden beat President Trump? Yes. Would he be a good president? Yes. Those are the two most important questions, and I can’t yet answer those questions affirmatively for many of the declared candidates, much as I may like them or their policies. We’re in the “remains to be seen” stage on many of the 20.
One last factor for me places Joe ahead of the field. With his vast experience, he’s uniquely capable of being able to rebuild much of what Donald Trump has torn down or let atrophy, such as our State Department.
Amanda Marks
Los Angeles
To the Editor:
Joe Biden brings decades of experience and all the baggage that goes with that. He faces a number of huge hurdles. Can he extricate himself from the legacy of the Anita Hill hearings when women and minorities play a major part of the Democratic base? Can he free himself from the Wall Street, big money establishment base that hobbled Hillary Clinton?
And, perhaps most important, can he unite the party and not alienate its ascendant progressive base, as Mrs. Clinton failed to do, by moving to the left and picking a progressive as a running mate if nominated?
Paul Wortman
Providence, R.I.
Source: Read Full Article