Casting a vote is not equivalent to marriage. You’re not looking for a long-term partner, where you can afford to have the highest standards when reviewing their basic beliefs, their accomplishments and even their hair. In our political system, you must choose only your biggest, brightest priorities and vote accordingly. This year, unlike any other year in history, there should only be one priority: keeping the American people alive. The only candidate that will accomplish that is former Vice President Joseph Biden, Jr. 

First and foremost, the easy “why:” With the United States approaching 7 million cases and 200,000 deaths from COVID-19, we need a leader who has a clear cut plan on how to quell the virus as soon as possible, just like many other nations in the world were able to do months ago. For example, New Zealand was under national lockdown of various levels for only 103 days. The country has a running total of around 1,400 deaths. In stark contrast, the U.S. has been dealing with COVID-19 for 193 days, with little to no strict lockdowns, and we have 6.85 million cases. However, instead of comparing ourselves to well-led countries like New Zealand, we should settle for a leader who has a plan at all.

Biden’s website has a detailed description of how he aims to take down the virus. These policies include widespread and regular testing, guaranteed for every returning employee; distribution and increased prioritization for Personal Protective Equipment, especially in resource-poor areas; and extensive aid to workers and small businesses.

Within each of the five sections of Biden’s plan, he also includes the ways in which our current president has failed. One of those includes how Trump has pushed for a fast economic reopening, even while people are still dying by the thousands every day. On April 16, six days after the state of New York surpassed more cases than any other country in the world, and only one month after entire communities began shutting down in March, he unveiled a plan where state officials were completely left to their own devices. He stated that a national lockdown would “inflict wide-ranging harm” on citizens’ health.

But what about the economy? His supporters — his subjects — never hesitate to bring up the financial side of things, where they see Trump ‘putting American jobs first’ by throwing up the open sign. We have to reopen the economy, right? Wrong, for two reasons. First, no economy can function if the people participating are dead — this is how Trump’s plan is going. Second, Trump’s economy is not our economy — even well-off Kirkwood suburbia isn’t on the same plane as Trump’s 1% world. When he talks about the economy, he means the CEOs sitting in his lap. He doesn’t mean the citizens of Kirkwood, or St. Louis or even Missouri. The only world he knows is his world. 

Biden sees this differently. While Trump has watched America burn from above, Biden plans to push money, resources and aid everywhere on fire. Biden wants to reopen schools. He wants to open businesses. But he doesn’t want to do that until all the fires are out. 

This is supposed to be a pro-Biden piece — not a tangential rant on our president. However, that’s exactly what makes Biden the obvious choice: He is not Donald Trump. The President has had four years to prove himself, and seven months to prevent his people from dying. He has done neither, and now we have a go-to guide on what not to do when…  This is why TKC firmly endorses Joseph Biden Jr. for President of the United States this November.