What a crazy political time we are in. On Sunday, Joe Biden announced he would step aside from his campaign and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the next president of the United States. For the first time in a long time, I’m seeing my peers become excited about something in politics. This has a lot to do with Harris, of course, but could not have happened without the courage and patriotism of Biden. And that isn’t the only thing to thank him for.
Biden may have been the most effective president in my lifetime. Biden and his istration’s record in the last three and a half years is quite remarkable. He brought Congress together across party lines to invest in America’s roads, public transit and internet with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. He broke decades of stalling on gun violence prevention by g the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and establishing the Office of Gun Violence Prevention. He lowered costs for American families and enacted sweeping climate protections through the Inflation Reduction Act. He rallied international to protect Ukraine. His executive orders have protected reproductive rights, reformed the failed approach on marijuana and provided billions of dollars of student loan relief.
All of these actions have the potential to have profound impacts for the rest of my life, not merely a four-year term. However, it is important to note the word potential; they are not guaranteed. A second Trump istration would almost certainly strip back many of these massive gains to please far-right extremists at the expense of the American people.
To be clear, we owe Biden a massive debt of gratitude for beating Trump in 2020. In such a critical election, I can’t blame him for fighting until the end for what he believed. I agree with Biden that he likely could have continued to be a great president in a second term. At the same time, I cannot commend him enough for putting aside his personal emotions and doing what he felt put his country in the best position possible.
Biden’s courage and patriotism has energized Americans, especially young Americans, more than I thought possible. My social media feeds are full of coconut emojis in of Harris, Harris video edits and excitement. Even crazier, Democrats raised over $100 million in grassroots funds for Harris in just over a day after Biden’s announcement. The day of the announcement saw ActBlue’s largest fundraising day ever. If that isn’t a sign of energy and optimism, I don’t know what is.
I hope we all take this as a sign that politics should be about something greater than individual personalities. I am proud to see the Democratic establishment listen to the people and pivot accordingly. I hope against hope that the Republican Party will do the same and pivot away from Donald Trump, who has never been approved of by a majority of Americans.
So where does this leave us? I think we’re in a much better place than we were this time last week. People are energized behind a candidate that has what it takes to beat Trump. For the first time I can , our politics are being driven by hope, not fear. I cannot stress enough how refreshing this is as a young person. I cannot wait to Harris’ campaign, along with plenty of my peers.
The future is bright not just because of what is to come, but also because of what came before. The Biden-Harris istration has fought for people like me. I thank Biden for his work to get here and for his wisdom in ing the torch to the next generation. Praise towards the vice president is warranted, but we must not forget the sacrifices Biden has made in his decades of public service.
Block is an honors political science student at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. He is from Encinitas.
