Voters Call on Biden to Keep Running

And elected Democrats need to listen

Voters have been inundated with a barrage of speculation about whether or not President Biden will remain in the 2024 presidential race. We hear those in positions of power–elected officials, media outlets, and wealthy donors–issuing calls for him to step aside. 

At the same time, Biden has picked up endorsements from more than 70 national organizations that represent politically active citizens, like The Alliance for Retired Americans, Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action, The Sierra Club, and over 30 labor unions. He received an enthusiastic welcome at the NAACP National Convention last week and was slated to do the same at the UnidosUS Conference as well. And let’s remember that President Biden has already secured the votes of over 14 million Americans.

This contradiction between what seems to be solid support for Biden among Democratic voters, and those few but influential voices questioning his candidacy is confusing. It devalues the individual voters that Democrats pride themselves on recruiting, and it reifies the idea that wealthy elites have more say and a better ability to discern what is right for the country. 

We might remember here that this idea is the same one that underlies the Electoral College, which is the very burden that allows Trump to be competitive in this race. In this way, Democrats are stuck in the same problematic patterns of governing that they are aiming to reform. This is important because this is just one way that Democratic Party leaders are hitting a dead end. 

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

-Albert Einstein

In the community development field, there is a well known and well accepted framework for understanding the meaningfulness of public participation called Arnstein’s Ladder. It illustrates different degrees of citizen power, with the most power at the highest rung of the ladder and the least at the lowest. When it comes to voting in national elections, we are trying to move to the highest rung of the ladder: “citizen control”.

This would mean that when people organize, deliberate, and vote for their candidate of choice, that action would result in their collective decision being honored. Our government and our democracy are founded on and depend on this very notion.

This is not what is happening now.

Instead, some Democrats and wealthy donors are attempting to push us back down a few rungs. They’re essentially ignoring votes, tokenizing efforts of the active citizens who put their faith in an electoral process that their futures absolutely depend upon. 

It takes a lot to keep people involved and energized. They have to believe that they can make a difference. 

Community organizers know that one of the quickest ways to lose participation in a process is to show participants that their work doesn’t matter, that their vote doesn’t count for anything. This is a devastating pitfall that we cannot commit. And something that goes against everything that the Democratic Party is supposed to stand for.

I call on elected Democrats to stand with their constituents and defend President Biden. They must live by the core values of their party and our democracy. It is negligent and an abuse of power to do anything less. We cannot let anyone else pressure President Biden to step down. Those who have, should retract all of their statements. We must insist that Democrats step up and unify behind the grassroots people who built its foundation. Trust in THE VOTER, create a stronger path forward, and let’s win this thing together.

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Thanks for reading!

Dr. Stephanie Lovely

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