President Joe Biden’s journey to ending his reelection bid highlighted two reasons I like being a Democrat so much.
First, when the June 27 debate revealed that both candidates were unqualified for second terms, it felt great to be a Democrat. Only our candidate had the character to take in new, personally unfavorable information and change his mind. The other candidate does not seem to possess the capacity for self-observation, let alone critique. It feels great when your candidate can be trusted to do the right thing (phew! finally!) and put country ahead of ambition.
President Biden didn’t do it alone. My second joy is the Democratic Party team. Only Democrats could confront our candidate with facts, yet do so without rancor. It felt great watching Democrats disagreeing with each other as respectful yet honest participants in the governing process.
Democrats emerge with a story for our fellow citizens: Yes, reality is tough sometimes, and disagreement and uncertainty are uncomfortable, but these are no reason to tear each other apart. Americans can govern ourselves with dignity and kindness. Democrats have chosen character over reality denial. It’s what makes America great.
I hope voters will affirm that patriotic story on Nov. 5.
