Former Vice President Joe Biden greets guests during a campaign stop at the RiverCenter on October 16, 2019 in Davenport, Iowa.
Open Letter: Dump Trump, Then Battle Biden
Fifty-five progressive writers and activists with a message for 2020 voters.
Many people, both on the left and more mainstream, are now discussing preparations for the very real possibility that Donald Trump will dispute the results of the election after he has lost. Such concerns are well-founded. But such concerns should not obscure the most urgent task--defeating Trump in the election with as big an Electoral College margin as possible, to undermine his predictable efforts to steal the election.
"Ending the Trump presidency is, by far, the most important goal that can be achieved between now and January."
How does Trump lose? Trump loses only if Biden, however distasteful he may be, wins.
And how does Biden win? Biden wins if he gets more votes than Trump in swing states so that his Electoral College count is higher than Trump's.
The Electoral College should be gone. Electoral coercion, manipulation and misdirection should be gone. The need to purchase visibility should be gone. The Democratic Party candidate should be Bernie Sanders or whoever would inspire your positive support. But none of that will happen by Election Day.
So it undeniably comes down to this--help Biden or increase the risk that Trump wins.
And what helps elect Biden?
Voting for Biden all over helps ward off post-election Trumpian tactics. Voting for Biden in swing states is essential.
Protestations that Biden is beholden to elites are true but beside the point. The lesser evil is evil, but in this case, the greater evil is simply off the charts.
Claims that not voting sends a message are true. But the message that not voting in swing states sends in 2020 is that we are okay with Trump for four more years as long as we don't have to sully our hands by voting for Biden.
Claims that more votes for the Green Party's or any other third party's presidential candidate are necessary to win long-term progressive goals ignore the many ways that Trump's re-election--with his climate policies, his nuclear weapons policies, his undermining of democracy and the courts, and his racism and sexism--would obstruct all positive social change.
Imagine it is late November. The mail votes are finally all counted. Everything is tallied. And Trump has scored an Electoral College victory. That is what not voting for Biden in swing states risks. It is what not advocating we should vote for Biden in swing states risks.
"Protestations that Biden is beholden to elites are true but beside the point. The lesser evil is evil, but in this case, the greater evil is simply off the charts."
Ending the Trump presidency is, by far, the most important goal that can be achieved between now and January.
Not voting for Biden in swing states won't bring on a revolution. Not voting for Biden in swing states will not make anyone the slightest bit more progressive, radical, or revolutionary. Not voting for Biden in swing states will not grow or solidify the ranks of opposition. But not voting for Biden in swing states risks immeasurably enlarging the obstacles that opposition will thereafter face.
So, it comes down to this. Dump Trump, Then Battle Biden. Vote for Biden at least in swing states--and urge others to do so as well. And then get on with building grassroots movements for ongoing fundamental change.
Signed,
[Organizations listed for purposes of identification only.]
Aisha Jumaan, epidemiologist and health activist
Amar Shergill, chair Progressive Caucus of Calif. Dem. Party
Andrej Grubacic, anarchist writer, activist, CIIS, Collective 20
Ann Ferguson, women, gender, sexuality studies, activist
Avi Chomsky, writer, activist, Salem State
Barbara Ehrenreich, author, journalist
Bill Fletcher Jr., writer, TransAfrica Forum, trade unionist
Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams, Ethics In Tech, SF Berniecrats, Collective 20
Charles Lenchner, digital media, People for Bernie
Cornel West, writer, activist, Harvard Divinity School
Cynthia Peters, The Change Agent, City Life/Vida Urbana, Collective 20
Dan La Botz, New Politics, DSA
David Barsamian, Alternative Radio
Doug Henwood, economic journalist, LBO, KPFK's "Behind the News"
Doug Pagitt, Vote Common Good
Elena Herrada, Radio host "Beloved Detroit," activist, Collective 20
Gar Alperovitz, writer, historian, Democracy Collaborative
Gregory Wilpert, writer, activist
Hassan El-Tayyab, peace activist, songwriter, author, FCNL lead lobbyist
Jeff Cohen, writer, RootsAction.org, FAIR founder
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Baptist preacher, moral activist
Joseph Gerson, writer, International Peace Bureau
Juliet Schor, sociology, Boston College
Karen Bernal, former chair Progressive Caucus of Calif. Dem. Party
Kathy Kelly, activist, author, Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Kim Scipes, professor, USMC veteran
Leslie Cagan, social justice organizer and writer
Linda Gordon, historian, author, "The Second Coming of the KKK"
Liza Featherstone, feminist journalist, "Divining Desire," Nation contributing editor
Lydia Sargent, author, Z Communications
Marina Sitrin, writer, activist, Binghamton
Marjorie Cohn, activist, scholar
Medea Benjamin, author, CodePink, Collective 20
Michael Albert, writer, Z Communications, RevolutionZ, Collective 20
Nanette Funk, writer, Brooklyn College
Noam Chomsky, writer, Collective 20
Norman Solomon, author, "War Made Easy," RootsAction.org
Oscar Chacon, Salvadoran immigrant, organizer, Collective 20
Paul Ortiz, historian, "Emancipation Betrayed," Collective 20, University of Florida
Peter Bohmer, writer, activist, Evergreen, Economics for Everyone, Collective 20
Peter Kuznick, writer, historian, "Untold History of the United States," American University
Robert McChesney, author on media and political economy
Robin Hahnel, author, activist, American University, Portland State University
Sandy Carter writer, activist
Savvina Chowdhury, political and feminist econ, Evergreen State College, Collective 20
Shane Claiborne, author, activist
Sherry Baron, DSA
Sonali Kolhatkar, writer, host of "Rising Up With Sonali" Radio/TV
Stephen Shalom, writer, activist, New Politics
Steve Early, writer, labor activist, NewsGuild/CWA
Suzanne Gordon, journalist, author, healthcare reform advocate
Ted Glick, climate activist, author "Burglar for Peace"
Victor Wallis, author, "Red-Green Revolution"
Vincent Emanuele, writer, activist, organizer, combat veteran, Collective 20
Winnie Wong, organizer, People for Bernie, former senior adviser Bernie 2020
FINAL DAY! This is urgent.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just hours left in our Spring Campaign, we're still falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Many people, both on the left and more mainstream, are now discussing preparations for the very real possibility that Donald Trump will dispute the results of the election after he has lost. Such concerns are well-founded. But such concerns should not obscure the most urgent task--defeating Trump in the election with as big an Electoral College margin as possible, to undermine his predictable efforts to steal the election.
"Ending the Trump presidency is, by far, the most important goal that can be achieved between now and January."
How does Trump lose? Trump loses only if Biden, however distasteful he may be, wins.
And how does Biden win? Biden wins if he gets more votes than Trump in swing states so that his Electoral College count is higher than Trump's.
The Electoral College should be gone. Electoral coercion, manipulation and misdirection should be gone. The need to purchase visibility should be gone. The Democratic Party candidate should be Bernie Sanders or whoever would inspire your positive support. But none of that will happen by Election Day.
So it undeniably comes down to this--help Biden or increase the risk that Trump wins.
And what helps elect Biden?
Voting for Biden all over helps ward off post-election Trumpian tactics. Voting for Biden in swing states is essential.
Protestations that Biden is beholden to elites are true but beside the point. The lesser evil is evil, but in this case, the greater evil is simply off the charts.
Claims that not voting sends a message are true. But the message that not voting in swing states sends in 2020 is that we are okay with Trump for four more years as long as we don't have to sully our hands by voting for Biden.
Claims that more votes for the Green Party's or any other third party's presidential candidate are necessary to win long-term progressive goals ignore the many ways that Trump's re-election--with his climate policies, his nuclear weapons policies, his undermining of democracy and the courts, and his racism and sexism--would obstruct all positive social change.
Imagine it is late November. The mail votes are finally all counted. Everything is tallied. And Trump has scored an Electoral College victory. That is what not voting for Biden in swing states risks. It is what not advocating we should vote for Biden in swing states risks.
"Protestations that Biden is beholden to elites are true but beside the point. The lesser evil is evil, but in this case, the greater evil is simply off the charts."
Ending the Trump presidency is, by far, the most important goal that can be achieved between now and January.
Not voting for Biden in swing states won't bring on a revolution. Not voting for Biden in swing states will not make anyone the slightest bit more progressive, radical, or revolutionary. Not voting for Biden in swing states will not grow or solidify the ranks of opposition. But not voting for Biden in swing states risks immeasurably enlarging the obstacles that opposition will thereafter face.
So, it comes down to this. Dump Trump, Then Battle Biden. Vote for Biden at least in swing states--and urge others to do so as well. And then get on with building grassroots movements for ongoing fundamental change.
Signed,
[Organizations listed for purposes of identification only.]
Aisha Jumaan, epidemiologist and health activist
Amar Shergill, chair Progressive Caucus of Calif. Dem. Party
Andrej Grubacic, anarchist writer, activist, CIIS, Collective 20
Ann Ferguson, women, gender, sexuality studies, activist
Avi Chomsky, writer, activist, Salem State
Barbara Ehrenreich, author, journalist
Bill Fletcher Jr., writer, TransAfrica Forum, trade unionist
Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams, Ethics In Tech, SF Berniecrats, Collective 20
Charles Lenchner, digital media, People for Bernie
Cornel West, writer, activist, Harvard Divinity School
Cynthia Peters, The Change Agent, City Life/Vida Urbana, Collective 20
Dan La Botz, New Politics, DSA
David Barsamian, Alternative Radio
Doug Henwood, economic journalist, LBO, KPFK's "Behind the News"
Doug Pagitt, Vote Common Good
Elena Herrada, Radio host "Beloved Detroit," activist, Collective 20
Gar Alperovitz, writer, historian, Democracy Collaborative
Gregory Wilpert, writer, activist
Hassan El-Tayyab, peace activist, songwriter, author, FCNL lead lobbyist
Jeff Cohen, writer, RootsAction.org, FAIR founder
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Baptist preacher, moral activist
Joseph Gerson, writer, International Peace Bureau
Juliet Schor, sociology, Boston College
Karen Bernal, former chair Progressive Caucus of Calif. Dem. Party
Kathy Kelly, activist, author, Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Kim Scipes, professor, USMC veteran
Leslie Cagan, social justice organizer and writer
Linda Gordon, historian, author, "The Second Coming of the KKK"
Liza Featherstone, feminist journalist, "Divining Desire," Nation contributing editor
Lydia Sargent, author, Z Communications
Marina Sitrin, writer, activist, Binghamton
Marjorie Cohn, activist, scholar
Medea Benjamin, author, CodePink, Collective 20
Michael Albert, writer, Z Communications, RevolutionZ, Collective 20
Nanette Funk, writer, Brooklyn College
Noam Chomsky, writer, Collective 20
Norman Solomon, author, "War Made Easy," RootsAction.org
Oscar Chacon, Salvadoran immigrant, organizer, Collective 20
Paul Ortiz, historian, "Emancipation Betrayed," Collective 20, University of Florida
Peter Bohmer, writer, activist, Evergreen, Economics for Everyone, Collective 20
Peter Kuznick, writer, historian, "Untold History of the United States," American University
Robert McChesney, author on media and political economy
Robin Hahnel, author, activist, American University, Portland State University
Sandy Carter writer, activist
Savvina Chowdhury, political and feminist econ, Evergreen State College, Collective 20
Shane Claiborne, author, activist
Sherry Baron, DSA
Sonali Kolhatkar, writer, host of "Rising Up With Sonali" Radio/TV
Stephen Shalom, writer, activist, New Politics
Steve Early, writer, labor activist, NewsGuild/CWA
Suzanne Gordon, journalist, author, healthcare reform advocate
Ted Glick, climate activist, author "Burglar for Peace"
Victor Wallis, author, "Red-Green Revolution"
Vincent Emanuele, writer, activist, organizer, combat veteran, Collective 20
Winnie Wong, organizer, People for Bernie, former senior adviser Bernie 2020
Many people, both on the left and more mainstream, are now discussing preparations for the very real possibility that Donald Trump will dispute the results of the election after he has lost. Such concerns are well-founded. But such concerns should not obscure the most urgent task--defeating Trump in the election with as big an Electoral College margin as possible, to undermine his predictable efforts to steal the election.
"Ending the Trump presidency is, by far, the most important goal that can be achieved between now and January."
How does Trump lose? Trump loses only if Biden, however distasteful he may be, wins.
And how does Biden win? Biden wins if he gets more votes than Trump in swing states so that his Electoral College count is higher than Trump's.
The Electoral College should be gone. Electoral coercion, manipulation and misdirection should be gone. The need to purchase visibility should be gone. The Democratic Party candidate should be Bernie Sanders or whoever would inspire your positive support. But none of that will happen by Election Day.
So it undeniably comes down to this--help Biden or increase the risk that Trump wins.
And what helps elect Biden?
Voting for Biden all over helps ward off post-election Trumpian tactics. Voting for Biden in swing states is essential.
Protestations that Biden is beholden to elites are true but beside the point. The lesser evil is evil, but in this case, the greater evil is simply off the charts.
Claims that not voting sends a message are true. But the message that not voting in swing states sends in 2020 is that we are okay with Trump for four more years as long as we don't have to sully our hands by voting for Biden.
Claims that more votes for the Green Party's or any other third party's presidential candidate are necessary to win long-term progressive goals ignore the many ways that Trump's re-election--with his climate policies, his nuclear weapons policies, his undermining of democracy and the courts, and his racism and sexism--would obstruct all positive social change.
Imagine it is late November. The mail votes are finally all counted. Everything is tallied. And Trump has scored an Electoral College victory. That is what not voting for Biden in swing states risks. It is what not advocating we should vote for Biden in swing states risks.
"Protestations that Biden is beholden to elites are true but beside the point. The lesser evil is evil, but in this case, the greater evil is simply off the charts."
Ending the Trump presidency is, by far, the most important goal that can be achieved between now and January.
Not voting for Biden in swing states won't bring on a revolution. Not voting for Biden in swing states will not make anyone the slightest bit more progressive, radical, or revolutionary. Not voting for Biden in swing states will not grow or solidify the ranks of opposition. But not voting for Biden in swing states risks immeasurably enlarging the obstacles that opposition will thereafter face.
So, it comes down to this. Dump Trump, Then Battle Biden. Vote for Biden at least in swing states--and urge others to do so as well. And then get on with building grassroots movements for ongoing fundamental change.
Signed,
[Organizations listed for purposes of identification only.]
Aisha Jumaan, epidemiologist and health activist
Amar Shergill, chair Progressive Caucus of Calif. Dem. Party
Andrej Grubacic, anarchist writer, activist, CIIS, Collective 20
Ann Ferguson, women, gender, sexuality studies, activist
Avi Chomsky, writer, activist, Salem State
Barbara Ehrenreich, author, journalist
Bill Fletcher Jr., writer, TransAfrica Forum, trade unionist
Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams, Ethics In Tech, SF Berniecrats, Collective 20
Charles Lenchner, digital media, People for Bernie
Cornel West, writer, activist, Harvard Divinity School
Cynthia Peters, The Change Agent, City Life/Vida Urbana, Collective 20
Dan La Botz, New Politics, DSA
David Barsamian, Alternative Radio
Doug Henwood, economic journalist, LBO, KPFK's "Behind the News"
Doug Pagitt, Vote Common Good
Elena Herrada, Radio host "Beloved Detroit," activist, Collective 20
Gar Alperovitz, writer, historian, Democracy Collaborative
Gregory Wilpert, writer, activist
Hassan El-Tayyab, peace activist, songwriter, author, FCNL lead lobbyist
Jeff Cohen, writer, RootsAction.org, FAIR founder
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Baptist preacher, moral activist
Joseph Gerson, writer, International Peace Bureau
Juliet Schor, sociology, Boston College
Karen Bernal, former chair Progressive Caucus of Calif. Dem. Party
Kathy Kelly, activist, author, Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Kim Scipes, professor, USMC veteran
Leslie Cagan, social justice organizer and writer
Linda Gordon, historian, author, "The Second Coming of the KKK"
Liza Featherstone, feminist journalist, "Divining Desire," Nation contributing editor
Lydia Sargent, author, Z Communications
Marina Sitrin, writer, activist, Binghamton
Marjorie Cohn, activist, scholar
Medea Benjamin, author, CodePink, Collective 20
Michael Albert, writer, Z Communications, RevolutionZ, Collective 20
Nanette Funk, writer, Brooklyn College
Noam Chomsky, writer, Collective 20
Norman Solomon, author, "War Made Easy," RootsAction.org
Oscar Chacon, Salvadoran immigrant, organizer, Collective 20
Paul Ortiz, historian, "Emancipation Betrayed," Collective 20, University of Florida
Peter Bohmer, writer, activist, Evergreen, Economics for Everyone, Collective 20
Peter Kuznick, writer, historian, "Untold History of the United States," American University
Robert McChesney, author on media and political economy
Robin Hahnel, author, activist, American University, Portland State University
Sandy Carter writer, activist
Savvina Chowdhury, political and feminist econ, Evergreen State College, Collective 20
Shane Claiborne, author, activist
Sherry Baron, DSA
Sonali Kolhatkar, writer, host of "Rising Up With Sonali" Radio/TV
Stephen Shalom, writer, activist, New Politics
Steve Early, writer, labor activist, NewsGuild/CWA
Suzanne Gordon, journalist, author, healthcare reform advocate
Ted Glick, climate activist, author "Burglar for Peace"
Victor Wallis, author, "Red-Green Revolution"
Vincent Emanuele, writer, activist, organizer, combat veteran, Collective 20
Winnie Wong, organizer, People for Bernie, former senior adviser Bernie 2020