The Republican case for Biden (save this link for the GE, for your GOP friends & relatives)

[highplainsdem]

And before anyone gets too upset at the thought of Republicans voting for the Democratic nominee, please keep in mind that Obama got nearly 10% of all Republican votes cast in 2008.


https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/opinion/article/The-Republican-case-for-Biden-14970558.php

It isn't easy to support a Democrat after an attachment to Republican politics that began when I watched the 1992 GOP convention at age 12. Eventually I worked on Capitol Hill as a Republican senior counsel for the House Financial Services Committee, where I helped conduct oversight of the Obama administration. I worked on the presidential campaigns of John McCain, Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio, and even worked for the Trump transition team in 2016 as an economic adviser.

But I'm happy to urge my fellow Republicans to back Joe Biden for president. If you're a Republican living in an open-primary state, help him get the Democratic nomination. Once he has it, vote for him in November.

Plenty of Republicans see President Donald Trump's moral and political failures clearly. About 10 percentof Republican voters believe that Trump should be removed from office. Those voters will be up for grabs in the 2020 election. They should be relieved that Biden is the Democratic front-runner right now.

For one thing, Biden surely would score high on the "have a beer with the guy" electability test. Biden doesn't even drink beer, or any alcohol, but he's still able to inspire a sense of collegial good feeling. I saw as much at the November 2006Return Day ceremony, a post-election tradition in Sussex County, Delaware, when politicians from both sides gather and literally bury a hatchet to symbolize goodwill. Lots of beer is consumed on Return Day, but one of the most convivial participants I saw was the teetotal Biden. Washington could use a few more old-school politicians who understand that spirit of bipartisanship.

For some Democrats, the idea of wooing dissatisfied Republicans is nauseating. Yet the best outcome for the country may require the left-of-center to find common ground with the right-of-center, especially on trade, immigration and foreign policy. The surest way for that to happen is for Biden to win the Democratic nomination and the White House.

-snip-

Countless Americans today are desperate for reconciliation and a semblance of normalcy. I've never voted for a Democrat, but Biden offers the possibility of just such a political recovery from the nightmare of the past few years. I invite my fellow restless Republicans to join me. After Nov. 3, the country could have a national Return Day to bury the hatchet and maybe raise a beer to toast the arrival of the post-Trump era.



J.W. Verret is an associate professor of law at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University.

[Cha]

1. Mahalo, hpd!

[Thekaspervote]

2. Great ... thx for posting!

[PatrickforO]

3. Not exactly heartwarming for the progressives...

Biden's all right, I'm sure. And I won't not vote for him because of this. But I'm sure supporting Warren at this point.

[highplainsdem]

4. That's okay. There are some NeverTrumpers who've said they'll vote for Warren, or even Sanders, to

keep Trump from being re-elected.

But since Biden is the Democratic front-runner, favored by Democrats, I was glad to see this opinion piece by a Republican urging other Republicans who don't like Trump to vote for Biden.

And I wanted to post it here because most of us know Republicans who might be swayed by this, so the link could come in handy as we get closer to the GE, if Biden's the nominee.

[PatrickforO]

5. I know quite a few sane Republicans - people you can actually debate and compromise

with, who would vote Biden over Trump, yes.

Most of the R's at the local level, which is where I'm at, really dislike Trump.