It’s no secret that many Americans are desperate to find out just which of the seemingly dozens of candidates who look likely to run for President in 2020 would have the easiest time beating Donald Trump.
Although it may seem like common sense to most people that America would not prefer a second term from the decidedly “non-traditional” President appointed by the electoral college in 2016, it’s hard to feel optimistic that the nation will get it right this time — especially considering the mountains of evidence we have that Russia is already working toward more interference in the next election, and the fact that Republicans have worked so hard to gerrymander districts for concentrated partisan power, institute blatantly racist voter ID measures, and purge voters from eligibility.
But one guy that seems to give people hope, perhaps because America has already gotten a taste for the kind of person he is, is former Vice President Joe Biden.
Biden has been touring the nation on his “American Promise” tour, the name a reference to his new book Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose — which itself was named for something said to him by his son Beau as he was coming to grips with the diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor which would eventually claim his life:
Promise me, Dad. Give me your word that no matter what happens, you’re going to be all right.”
But while “Uncle Joe” has been more than willing to show us the vulnerable side of a grieving father, he’s also never stopped being the hilariously candid, sometimes brash kid from Scranton, Pennsylvania. And it was that Joe who personally signed an email today from the political action committee he formed a little more than a year ago, American Possibilities, taking on Donald Trump’s ostensible loyalty to Vladimir Putin’s Russia:
A week ago, we all saw something I never thought possible even in my wildest imagination: An American President standing on the world stage taking the word of a Russian leader over that of America’s own intelligence community. Think about that. This President believed Vladimir Putin’s preposterous denials and rejected the overwhelming evidence presented by America’s intelligence leaders who have taken a sworn duty to protect our nation. In short, he took Putin’s word over America’s.
It was … beneath the office of the President. [F]lattering dictators does not advance American interests. It makes us less safe. Attacking the values that make our democracy strong — including strong institutions, the rule of law, a free press, and fair elections — does not help us lead abroad.
When our president had the chance to confront our number one adversary … he instead chose to embrace him.
He blamed America rather than Russian aggression for the deterioration of our bilateral relations. Trashed his own Department of Justice. And put Vladimir Putin’s word above that of our own intelligence community — whose very leaders he appointed.”
This is the kind of demand for accountability Americans are hungry for. You can tell by how people talk about him at his book tour stops, like the one shown here in St. Petersburg, Florida:
If not Joe, let’s hope whoever the candidate is sounds at least a little as outraged by Trump as the former Veep does.
Featured image via screen capture
