Republicans, vote Joe this election

Kristin Boyles, Growl Editor

Pixabay (Jackie Ramirez)

Voting for Joe Biden isn’t the “socialist, democracy-ruining agenda” you think it is. Conservatives and Republicans often look at Joe Biden as the face of the downfall of our nation when, in reality, the U.S. might as well be on that track right now.

Regardless of whether or not you’re a registered Republican, it’s time to stop the party-allegiance and use our heads. If you compare the two nominees, you’ll notice that there’s a number of obvious similarities: both are white, male, and in their 70s.

But let’s look a bit further into the similarities in an effort to convince you of why a vote for Joe doesn’t mean you support socialism. Let’s start by looking at one of the biggest issues currently facing our nation: COVID-19.

According to a comparison chart by Kevin Uhrmacher and Andrew Braford for The Washington Post, both Joe Biden and Donald Trump support expanded testing and an effort to fast-track a potential vaccine. In fact, they also both agree that schools should be reopening during the pandemic. It’s true: both candidates agree on something about the virus, regardless of what the President currently spews on national television, at his rallies, or on Twitter.

COVID-19 probably won’t last the entirety of the next four years. What about the economy? Everyone cares about the economy. Looking at the same chart from The Washington Post – which provides evidence for these stances – both Biden and Trump support a trade deal between the US, Mexico, and Canada and the coveted “Made in America” ideal.

Another prominent issue in America concerns the matter of “defunding the police.” Despite what Trump’s campaign ads claim, Biden has on a number of occasions signified that he does not support defunding the police. I’ll once again refer you to The Washington Post chart for this: “[Biden’s] proposal advocates spending an additional $300 million a year on community policing initiatives and conditioning existing funding on reforms.”

$300 million doesn’t sound like defunding to me.

With the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I’m sure we’ve all heard that if Biden wins, he and the liberals plan to change the entire justice system and fill it with left-wing justices by adding more seats. Again, according to The Washington Post, this is a lie fed to you by a corrupt conservative narrative.

I’m sure you’re thinking: how do we know if this is true? Isn’t The Washington Post left-leaning? Maybe it is, but Fox News is right-leaning, too, and people trust that, so let’s stick with the news outlets who don’t blatantly lie to their viewers.

We can look at ProCon.org’s 2020 Election page next. This shows various stances for the candidates and, again, Biden and Trump agree with each other about quite a bit, like how neither of them believe that we should implement a “Medicare-for-all” type plan, or that illegally crossing the border should be decriminalized.

This isn’t to say that Joe Biden and Donald Trump are the same person, nor am I trying to convince you that Trump isn’t really that much different from Biden. By pointing out these comparisons – all of which are hot button topics that conservatives tend to believe Biden will ruin should he become president – I’m simply saying that he certainly isn’t as liberal as Trump would have you believe.

And I don’t know about you, but after four years of Donald Trump’s mess of a presidency – from his late-night Twitter rants to his incoherent speeches at his rallies and everything in between – I’m tired.

No country is perfect, but another four years of Donald Trump will put us even further from “liberty and justice for all” than we already are. Don’t just take it from me – in an article for USA Today from Republican consultant and senior advisor to The Lincoln Project, Stuart Stevens, “The only way to save the Republican Party is to crush Trump and Trumpism and rebuild.”