In response to Molly Roberts’ April 26 commentary, “Biden’s Anti-Trump message is about the past, not the future.”
Joe Biden’s video message was his initial and official foray into the presidential race. He started in the right place at the beginning, highlighting some of our greatest moments in history. It made me feel good. Absolutely nothing that Donald Trump has ever said made me feel good.
I do agree that latent and extreme ideologies have always existed, but they seemed to have overtly bubbled to the surface after Trump was elected. Trump unabashedly gave these ideologies legitimacy. Hypocrisy notwithstanding, I don’t think any other president in modern times has ever done this.
I don’t think Biden is “stuck” in the past. On the contrary, it’s Trump who’s stuck in the past. Actually, Trump is more stuck on himself than on any ideology. His shameless pandering for votes and reality show rallies bring out the worst in him, his voters and in the whole country.
I certainly hope that Trumpism is an aberrant moment in time. Maybe this is why there are now so many Democratic candidates. There may even be some brave Republican candidates in the near future.
Roberts says Biden should say that experience matters, and being pragmatic doesn’t mean being unprincipled. Believe me, he’ll say it many times. The great American story has had its ups and downs. We’ve made advances and we’ve taken a step or two backward. Let’s take the process one step at a time, starting with the election of a new president in 2020.
Judith F. Zuckert, Sandy