The Values Biden Represents to Me

By Brandon White

I had only just turned 18 years old when I proudly voted for the first time for John McCain for President of the United States.

The US was mired in two crises with no end in sight: a raging two theater War on Terror, and a crippling financial crisis the depth of which I struggled to fully comprehend. These crises were serious and urgent, and I knew the American people must put forward the very best among us to lead us through.

I believed my vote that year was an endorsement of competence and experience, statesmanship and bipartisanship, and most importantly, one of honesty. This is what John McCain represented to me, and I assumed all Republican candidates and their voters shared those ideals. This feeling was reinforced by the fact that my home community in Southern Indiana endorsed these values alongside me, giving McCain an eight point margin in Clark and Floyd county.

As I entered adulthood and moved away from home to pursue higher education, military service, and the start of my professional career, I took along the values instilled in me by my family and community. Things like:

Treat others the way you want to be treated.

Help those who have less than you.

Consider walking a mile in someone else’s shoes.

Admit when you’re wrong and make amends.

Listen first and speak second.

Live within your means.

Improve yourself — admit what you don’t know and ask those who do.

I can hear my family, teachers, coaches, and mentors saying these words, reinforced through direction and observation as I saw these values lived out by those I respected. Once I set my sights on a career in government and public policy, I hoped to support and work for people who shared, expressed, and lived these values themselves.

I grew frustrated in those intervening years as the GOP struggled to deal with its evolution through the Tea Party era. As the GOP primary field in 2016 narrowed and the party redefined itself around Donald Trump, I was still aligned politically and professionally with the Republican Party. I was hopeful that the party of Lincoln would once again represent the better angels of our nature.

Unfortunately, four years have passed and Donald Trump instead redefined the Republican Party in his own image. Four years of him treating others the way no one should be treated. Four years of looking down on those who have less and using the tools of our national government to take from those in need to further enrich those who have the most. Four years without empathy. Four years of blame-shifting and abdication of responsibility. Four years of shouting down and attacking those with whom he disagrees. Four years of unquestioned debts and deficits. Four years of discrediting expertise, credibility, and truth in exchange for cable news commentators, gut instincts, and wishful thinking.

As I write this, I and most of America are still physically trapped, distanced, and in danger, having misplaced our faith in a man who represents the opposite of everything we grew up believing in. But we’re not mentally or ideologically trapped into voting for one party. A political party is a tool, a vehicle for electing public servants who share your worldview or value set. An ‘R’ or ‘D’ next to a name means nothing without the values they represent. And no political party has a monopoly on representing these values.

Our country now faces three crises with no end in sight: a public health crisis that grinds away at nearly 1,000 deaths per day, stressing the capacity of every institution in American society; an economic crisis that will accelerate the forces of change and leave the most vulnerable among us the furthest behind; and a social justice crisis that requires us to listen better, feel more, and assume less.

These crises are serious and urgent, and the American people must put forward the very best among us to lead us through. I believe my vote this November is an endorsement for competence, experience, statesmanship, bipartisanship, and most importantly, honesty. This is what Joe Biden represents to me. I am supporting him this November, and I encourage you to vote for him as well.

Brandon White is a national security consultant and Army Reservist residing in Washington, DC. He was born and raised in New Albany, Indiana and is a 2009 graduate of Silver Creek High School and a 2015 graduate of the University of Indianapolis.