Since the slate of Democratic candidates announced their campaigns, the Democratic Party has become increasingly divided between the progressive left supporters of Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, and the moderate supporters of Vice President Joe Biden and Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Soon only Sanders and Biden remained, the schism seemed to widen impossibly, some heralding Biden as the essential establishment Democrat, and Sanders as far too “socialist” and “unelectable.” Now that we are left with Biden as the presumptive Democratic nominee, many ‘Berniecrats’ and members of the progressive left have adamantly refused to support Biden’s 2020 campaign. 

This schism has developed for a variety of reasons, including significant sexual assault allegations by Tara Reade, and the VP’s decidedly un-progressive legislation and stances. The recent Black Lives Matter protests have only exemplified Biden’s troubles, as the activists and organizers on the ground have geared their demands towards defunding and abolishing the police, and Biden has sided with the Democratic establishment in his response to the protester’s demands, calling for police reform rather than abolition. 

Despite the progressive left’s reservations against him, the democratic party and all Anti-Trumpers must unite to elect Biden in the fall. Acknowledging the vitality of a Biden 2020 election, Jason Bohner ’20 said, “The next few years will be a critical period in our country’s history. We need a leader who will listen to progressive and common-sense policies, breaking ground to safeguard and promote many of the key issues that President Trump has tried to eliminate: environmental sustainability, campaign finance reform, gun reform, and healthcare, to name a few. We can set the tone for many young candidates to win local elections and implement progressive policies that directly impact our day to day lives.”

What is commonly said rings true —  Trump 2020 is a threat to democracy and American values —  but something greater is at stake;  supreme court nominees. Many young, liberal voters have sworn that their political allegiance is “Bernie or bust,” because Biden presents policies with an ideology that falls closer to the democratic establishment than the progressive ideals young voters adhere to. However, the threat of President Trump winning another four years and being able to appoint possibly two new conservative Supreme Court Justices to replace Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen G. Breyer outweighs the threat that a Biden presidency poses to the progressive young voter base. 

Justices Ginsberg and Breyer are the two most consistently liberal justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, and both are edging towards the age of retirement. A Trump 2020 presidency would almost certainly mean the confirmation of a young conservative justice to replace Justice Ginsberg; post-election, Ginsberg will probably retire, regardless of the election’s outcome, and Trump will then be free to nominate a conservative justice. That action would result in the overhaul of countless progressive victories, including Roe v. Wade, and prevent the ratification of future progressive legislation. As a result, it is vital that the Democratic party, progressive voters, and never-Trumpers rally behind Biden. Whatever faults that Biden possesses, they pale in comparison to the overhaul of decades of progressive legislation that will happen with a 7-2 conservative majority.

Bohner ’20 said, “We cannot let Trump nominate another Supreme Court justice – making irreversible changes to a woman’s right to choose, LGBTQ+ rights,  and other basic civil liberties that we’ve fought hard to protect. Our country is at an impasse – Biden can steer us from flying into the abyss, and start the journey in the right direction.”

The ride-or-die Bernie supporters must rally behind Biden, or face a future of little to no progressive change. 

“Our country is at an impasse – Biden can steer us from flying into the abyss, and start the journey in the right direction,” said Jason Bohner ’20.