“How can you possibly support Candidate B?”

Even before Warren’s dropping out, I’ve been beating the drum for quite some time about the need to, eventually, whichever way the chips fall, vote for the Democratic nominee … whether it’s Bernie or Biden.

“But Dave! How can you possibly support Candidate B, who is obviously such a bad candidate?”

Let’s make it clear I understand some of the obvious weaknesses of each significant Dem candidate still in the race.

Joe Biden …

• has a long political record, and a lot of it has aged poorly. His actions as US Senator don’t align with what we want from a President today.
• says a lot of self-aggrandizing things about his history that are untrue.
• is definitely not progressive. He’s made some interesting proposals during this race, but mostly he’s a candidate of “Hey, things were great during the Obama era.”
• has a poor filter, thinks faster than he can talk, and possibly has cognitive issues.
• overly relies on his Obama legacy, glossing he was brought in as a more conservative (and white) balance to the the ticket.
• came into this race with an entitlement chip on his shoulder, and has never quite gotten over that.

Bernie Sanders …

• is angry, shouty, accusatory.
• has a long record of not working and playing well with others.
• has big goals without any real sign of detailed policy or practical political ways of achieving them, beyond shouting and pointing and getting his supporters to shout and point, too.
• talks and argues in absolutes.
• is also old, and has a history of cardiac problems, including a recent heart attack.
• clearly feels entitled to the nomination.
• has (despite his protests and condemnations) a cadre of supporters who are just as mean-spirited and absolutist as Trump’s, even if for an arguably better cause.
• regardless of “socialism” not really being a dirty word, has a background of radical rhetoric over many years that will provide a lot of fodder for Trump in the fall.

And there’s more for both. And whoever is the nominee, you’ll hear about it in lurid detail from Donald Trump and Fox News. It’s depressing.

So, yeah, I know neither candidate is perfect. So how can I support one over the other?

Well, my state primary is done. And my vote wasn’t for either of them. So I’m not supporting either of them over the other. If I was backed to the wall as to which one I’d vote for … I’d be a resident of another state. In other words, I’d rather not square that circle.

But there’s something far more important going on.

In nearly every one of those categories and criticisms, of both candidates, Donald Trump is far, far worse. He’s worse than Biden. He’s worse than Sanders. Categorically. Unequivocally.

Donald Trump …

• has a personal and business record that are the stuff of dark comedy.
• lies about himself (and everything else) all the time.
• Has politics that are not principled, but opportunistic and transactional, to which end he’s hitched himself to the reactionary wing of the GOP.
• has no filter, says whatever will benefit him most (truth or not), and almost certainly has cognitive issues.
• overly relies on his business background, glossing over or lying about his huge early support from his dad (and then his dad’s business) and his serial bankruptcies and stiffed creditors.
• lies continuously about his accomplishments.
• has built a cult of personality and surrounded himself with yes-folk because he only values the loyalty of others toward him, not their advice or experience.
• disdains experts and scientists because they too often tell him (and, worse, others) things that are inconvenient, unpleasant, or unprofitable to him.
• is a bully, mean-spirited, a name caller who is always, always eager to punch down.
• will turn on any one who he considers disloyal, a failure, or just disagreeable, fire them in the most cruel and humiliating way possible, then tweet insults at them.
• swaggers on the world stage, alienating allies, making kissy-faces with dictators, and destroying any shreds of American credibility.
• panders to big money, theocrats, and anyone else whose support will benefit him, unhindered by any ideology other than what benefits him — his business, his political success, his historical legacy.
• has no idea of how a constitutional republic works, and treats government like a private company, raging at or simply ignoring legal restrictions.
• constantly attacks people (falsely) for doing things he’s actually done or wants to do, for reasons he has
• is a xenophobe and white nationalist (though he’s happy to pretend he’s not if it helps him, just as he’s happy to pretend he’s a devout Christian if it helps him).
• is inept as a politician and collaborative partner, the only thing that has kept his first term from being far worse, as at least half the time he steps on his own shoelaces while trying to get away with stuff. All he knows about leadership is  bluster and bullying and shamelessness.
• has coarsened public discourse and society as a while.
• teaches our children that being without shame gets you ahead. He has normalized and boosted bullying, racism, sexism, and nationalism. He has shattered norms and both encouraged and partaken in corruption.
• has no respect for the Constitution, except where it gives him power to do stuff.
• has supported GOP efforts to suppress the votes of their opponents, and himself been happy to take advantage of foreign interference in our elections where it benefitted him, and then lie to the American people about it and obstruct justice in investigating it.
• has taken actions have directly harmed people of color, immigrants (legal or otherwise), women, LGBTQ folk, the poor and economically vulnerable.
• has taken actions that have less directly increased the risk of war, the risk of catastrophic climate change effects, and, most recently, the risk of a lethal pandemic in the US.
• would be perfectly happy to see abortion banned, LGBTQ folk thrown back in the closet, unions abolished, unfriendly journalists and political opponents jailed, and a daily military parade in front of the White House. And if he were offered the chance to be President-for-Life, I have very little doubt he’d jump on it.

Against that partial track record — which I state here much more baldly than is my usual wont — the weaknesses and flaws of either Biden or Sanders pale in comparison. They are real, yes, harmful and hurtful in their ways, but trivial compared to Trump.

Sure, arguing that someone is less bad than Donald Trump is a very low bar. But it’s an important one. (And, for what it’s worth, I would still consider both Bernie and Biden significantly better than their GOP competitor. Despite the litany above, both have what I consider positive aspects as well; this is not just a matter of lesser of evils.)

Regardless, the reality is, one person will be elected in November, and it will either be Donald Trump or the nominee of the Democratic party. Which one would you rather live under? Which one will leave the country better (or worse) than the other? It’s not — it’s never — a question of which candidate is going to usher in the new utopia. Even if my favorite candidate had gotten the nod, and won in November, it wouldn’t have been utopia. But it’s going to be better (or worse) with one or the other.

The question is not which Candidate B I support, but what am I going to do when it’s one of those Candidate Bs vs President T.

Those are the two choices. Pretending that not voting or voting for some protest third party candidate isn’t contributing, negatively, to the outcome is sophistry. Saying T is awful, but B has some flaws, so you won’t vote for either is … well, it’s basically supporting T. Because there’s no moral equivalence here. Not acting to defeat Trump, even with whatever ill effects might come along with Candidate B being elected, is to condone and support Trump’s re-election, and the doubling down on what has gone on in his first term.

(“I live in a state that will definitely go to the Democrat, so I don’t need to compromise by voting for a Democrat I don’t like.” Except that nobody really knows the narrowness of that margin — a sliver of votes in a set of states got Trump an electoral college majority even if he lost the popular vote — and it’s already clear that Trump will protest any electoral loss in November, so the vote against him has to be overwhelming.)

So argue about which B is better or less bad now, during the nominating process. Cast that primary vote; wax eloquent in your caucus; tweet your tweets; speak out on street corners. But realize your candidate might not get the nomination, and you might need to vote for someone you’d rather not have to.

Biden supporters might need to vote for that radical shouty guy who wants to get rid of private health insurance and raise taxes. Sanders supporters might need to vote for that big money centrist who opposes legalized pot and will only incrementally improve health care access.

Deal with it. Because the alternative is supporting that existential threat to America and the world, Donald Trump.

Whether Sanders or Biden get the nomination, I am all in on them.  I can firmly support their candidacy without agreeing with everything about them or pretending they are perfect or even having either of them as my first choice. Because we cannot afford another four years of Donald Trump, even if that means four years of Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders instead.

It’s like arguing about having to pick the cold soup or the stale sandwich,  when the alternative is a plate of shit laced with polonium.

That’s why I’ll support Candidate B. Whichever one it is.