Joe Biden’s Democratic presidential nomination is definitely not what the more progressive members of the Democratic Party wanted to see this year.
For the more progressive Democrats, Biden represents no dramatic changes to current conventional politics, something they don’t want. He doesn't cut it for the left-leaning members of the Democratic Party that have their sights set on free public higher education, stronger climate action and widespread health care.
Biden’s moderate stances can be seen in his plans to support only two years of free college tuition, expand student debt relief programs as opposed to canceling some student debt and ending new oil and gas leases on federal land instead of banning fracking everywhere.
Left-leaning Democrats should not be impressed with Biden’s moderate health care agenda to simply build on the Affordable Care Act. The goal for progressives is not just to maintain or build on the Affordable Care Act, but to instead establish universal healthcare according to a July 17 NPR article.
Because Sen. Bernie Sanders withdrew from the presidential race in April, most members of the Democratic Party agree that helping to elect Biden in November is better than another four years with Donald Trump as president according to an Aug. 17 Politico article.
To make this happen, former Bernie Sanders aides and allies created political action committees and promised to spend millions of dollars to help elect Biden in a show of support that former presidential-nominee Hillary Clinton never received in 2016.
It is evident that Democrats learned a difficult lesson back then: when divided, they stand no chance against the Republicans. One of the reasons for Clinton’s downfall in 2016 was failing to excite young voters and minorities and instead putting too much effort into winning over sections of the Republican Party.
Focusing on these voters meant that Clinton’s votes were concentrated in states which lost her the Electoral College. If Clinton had appealed to the diverse members of the Democratic Party and gone after their votes, she may have been able to win more states and the electoral college.
The stakes are high in November because if Biden doesn’t win, the country faces four more years of tyranny under the current administration. The Democratic Party should have one goal: ousting Trump. Even if that includes progressive Democrats begrudgingly voting for Biden. However, the tolerance for a moderate presidential candidate may drastically change after the election.
Despite the election being over a month away, progressives are warning Biden that he or vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris could be voted out in the 2024 election if the pair is not sufficiently progressive, according to the Aug. 17 Politico article.
At first glance, it would appear that Biden selected Harris because she is a woman of color and because she would quell the progressives because she represents minority voters and could make history as the first female vice president. However, this is not the truth.
As reported by The New York Times on Aug. 12, Biden’s selection of Harris reaffirmed what many progressives had feared: a Biden administration is likely to govern as the former vice president had spent most of his career — playing it safe and trying to accommodate both sides of the political spectrum, but only further aggravating progressives.
If Biden is elected but progressive Democrats remain unsatisfied with his administration, they may be just as demanding as the dissenting Republican Party.
Progressive leaders are making plans to push their agenda of new Medicare proposals and a substantial green jobs plan after the election, according to an Aug. 17 Politico article.
In an effort to appease the progressives in the Democratic Party, Biden has adopted slightly more progressive policies to his campaign.
According to a September 16th NBC article, Biden will seek to lower the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 60.
He also plans to forgive federal loan debt for people who make less than $125,000 a year, students who graduated from any public undergraduate universities and students who attend minority-serving institutions.
This small olive branch cannot be the last of Biden's efforts if he wants to keep progressives happy.
Progressive Democrats feel pressured into voting for Biden in November in order to avoid another four years of Trump, but if Biden is elected, they will push him to the left on issues and he’ll be obliged to acquiesce if he wants to keep their support.
