Disclaimer: This post reflects my views alone.
With No Labels deciding (wisely, in my view) not to present [1] a candidate for president, the choice this November became much more dramatically clear. Anyone truly concerned about the fate of the democratic world – to say nothing about democracy here at home – will have but one choice on the ballot: voting to re-elect President Biden.
You, dear reader, may find that to be hyperbole. I wish it were; it is not.
There will be, at most, six candidates on the presidential ballot here in Virginia (or anywhere else): President Biden, Donald Trump, Jill Stein, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Cornel West, and whomever the Libertarians [2] nominate.
The LP has openly advocated leaving NATO, which would permanently weaken the democratic world and embolden our authoritarian enemies. Four of the other five (Stein [3], Trump [4], Kennedy [5], and West [6]) have spoken in favor of leaving or ending the democratic alliance. That leaves Biden.
President Biden is literally the only candidate (major or well-known minor) that supports NATO; he is also the only candidate who supports Ukraine’s fight to defend itself [7].
Please note, Biden is not merely the only candidate “with a shot at winning.” He will be the only presidential candidate on the ballot who will stand up to the Moscow-Beijing alliance. The Chinese Communist Party has already figured this out; they are now joining the Kremlin on Team Trump [8].
No one is saying the president has been perfect. His decision to leave Afghanistan [9] was a serious mistake; a mark of his great political fortune is that no one running against him this fall disagrees with the decision (and, indeed, it was Trump’s agreement with the Taliban [10] that Biden was following).
Likewise, his failure to entertain supply-side reforms [11] to tackle inflation is mimicked by all of his opponents. On the social issue that is the most important America faces (the fate of pre-born children), the Republican policy has clearly failed [12], although Biden [13] is not alone in rejecting that failed policy.
Biden does stand alone on foreign policy. He, and he alone, supports NATO and Ukraine. For that reason, I do endorse and will vote for him.