The More Things Change, the More They Don’t

This was from my endorsement of President Biden’s re-election just under four months ago:

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 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, Trump, Kennedy, and West) 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.

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.

Well, we’ve had a few things change since then. First, the Libertarians nominated Chase Oliver, who dutifully spouted his party’s anti-NATO position. The Republican ticket is now complete, with Vladimir Putin getting both spots. Finally, of course, President Biden chose to decline renomination and endorsed his VP, who as of this morning has 80% delegate support (WaPo).

Yet, as the French would say: plus ça change, plus ça mème chose – (i.e., the more change, the more of the same).

In this case, the logic that led me to endorse Biden leads me to endorse his successor. There will be a maximum of six candidates on the presidential ballot here in Virginia (or anywhere else): Vice President Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Jill Stein, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Cornel West, and Chase Oliver. Five of the six (here are Stein, Trump, Kennedy, and West echoing Oliver) have spoken in favor of leaving or ending the democratic alliance. That leaves Harris.

Vice President Harris is literally the only candidate (major or well-known minor) that supports NATO and Ukraine’s fight to defend itself. That’s it. That’s the list. For that reason, I do endorse and will vote for her for president.