I think I've known this deep down for several weeks, but I'm on the Biden train.

[Music Man]

Not the boldest decision to move from Undecided to Biden at this point, given that the race is effectively over, but I do so with no reservation now.

Pete Buttigieg was always my number one, with Elizabeth Warren a very close second.

All the candidates have virtues and flaws, and with Kentucky being such a late primary, I've always felt I can take my time to decide. Truly, I appreciate all our candidates. I think the media get caught up in candidate's "lanes," when voters' motivations are more complex. Buttigieg and Warren have both been my top tier, but the casual, basic observer might say "one is a centrist and one is a progressive! How does that work?" The truth is that people select candidates on a combination of factors from policy to specific government experience to personal identity to temperament to perceived electability. One might be willing to forego agreement on all issues for a candidate who approximates their positions but achieves some other important qualities.

So it is with Joe Biden. He is not an exciting candidate, but in the age of Trump, boy am I looking for a little less excitement in my politics. I want serious, calm, measured people.

I find him to be decent, caring, and empathetic. Not only is this an antidote to Trumpism, but to the hyper-nastiness of the internet era.

He stood by Obama when they were dealing with a recession, getting out of Iraq, tracking down bin Laden, saving the auto industry, and passing the ACA. Was the Obama administration a flawless operation or a liberal paradise? Of course not. But, boy, they saved a lot of lives and saved this country from the wreckage of the Bush years. Biden's been there before, and he'll do it again.

I find it impossible to dislike Biden personally. His story is compelling--losing his wife and children in a car accident, losing his adult son to cancer, overcoming a stutter, coming from humble origins in Scranton to be one of the most influential politicians in American history. He never gives up, and the trajectory of the primary campaign is testament to that. People I know who have met him say what a decent, authentic person he is.

As a white male, I realize my life brings a lot of privilege, and it is easier for me to say, "I want a calm leader who will get results." Incrementalism doesn't help the millions of black people disproportionately put in prison, people poorer than me failing to pay rent, etc. Biden's record is not perfect by any means, but on average, he's on the side of workers, the disabled, minorities, abused women. He will do right by the most vulnerable among us. I also believe he'll listen to the right people and bring the right people into his administration, even if his own experiences have blind spots.

I love me some Bernie Sanders. He has long been a hero of mine. Unafraid to call himself a socialist, arguing passionately for single-payer (which I believe in), decrying a system built on wealth inequality, and doing it consistently over several decades. He has said what needs to be said and has almost single-handedly shifted the political spectrum of the Democratic Party over the past few years. Thanks to Bernie, you have to at least believe in a public health option to be anywhere near acceptable.

But I have felt some Bernie fatigue (to use the phrase another thread is--it's a good one). The 2020 Sanders campaign has felt more opportunistic--I think we need to break the party mold and pay less attention to labels, but I do have a problem with Bernie not being a Democrat but taking advantage of the infrastructure of the party by seeking its nomination.

Moreover, and this may make many of my good Bernie-supporting friends upset, there's a tone that the Bernie movement has taken on, particularly on social media, that is nasty, mean, judgmental, and condescending. Believing in anything other than single-payer makes you a murderer. Pete Buttigieg is basically a Republican because... reasons? Elizabeth Warren is a "snake" because she hasn't endorsed Bernie. Old people need to die off quickly if we're going to save this country. I have heard all of these and more.

This is not all my Bernie friends, but many of them, and while they're not unkind people (and I agree with them on what polices we need to institute), the movement has caused them to feed that particular wolf. Bernie's movement is intense but not broad, and that will only get us so far (especially when we MUST have sweeping Congressional victories). To put it simply, the attitude of many of Bernie's supporters have turned me off to Bernie. Perhaps that's unfair, but I've asked myself if I want to find myself in a movement like that, and if that's what I want to listen to and endure in America for four years. For instance, if I want progressivism that's kind, inclusive, energetic, and detailed, Elizabeth Warren is my person, not Bernie.

Mad respect to Bernie Sanders, his supporters, and everyone who worked on his campaign. I was devastated when Pete Buttigieg dropped out. I hope the Biden people will be thoughtful in this time, never gloating or disregarding what Bernie can still bring to the table in this cycle.

But I'm on the Biden train now (which is an Amtrak train, to be precise). Proud of it too. Ready to turn my attention to the fall and see Biden beat Trump. Like a drum

[Turin_C3PO]

1. Thanks for joining the team!

Your feelings on Bernie and his supporters mirror mine exactly. Some positive stuff and some negative stuff.

[Walleye]

2. Welcome aboard!

[Demsrule86]

3. Welcome...

[relayerbob]

4. Having moverd from LIz to Biden ...

and having supported Sanders in the 2016 primaries, I find also it is as much the overbearing negativity of a too-large (but still fairly small) percentage of Sanders' supporters and those he has surrounded himself with, that made it impossible for me to support him this year. Policy ideas are fine, but he's not the right messenger.

Thank yuo for getting on the team.