It is fairly obvious that the election dynamics have dramatically changed over the past three months. We are living through a global pandemic riddled with economic and social uncertainties on a magnitude that defies any modern precedent. More recently, the nation suffered yet another heart attack fueled by massive protests spotlighting 400 years of systemic racism against African-Americans, police brutality and massive levels of inequality. The seriousness of the moment needs little debate.
For Joe Biden to be in his current position as his party’s presidential nominee is highly fortuitous, assuming, of course, he can make the correct decisions during this undoubtedly high-stakes period of his campaign. His current position is also a bit ironic, because not only is he a relic of what America used to be, but simultaneously serves as an Obama-constructed-bridge to what America must eventually become.
Having said that, there is plenty for Joe Biden and his team to lose sleep over as we head into the crucial summer months before the upcoming election. Eric Levitz, writing in 2019 for New York magazine, sums up a few of the more pressing and painful items below:
Joe Biden once called state-mandated school integration “the most racist concept you can come up with,” and Barack Obama “the first sort of mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean.” He was a staunch opponent of “forced busing” in the 1970s, and leading crusader for mass incarceration throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s. Uncle Joe has described African-American felons as “predators” too sociopathic to rehabilitate — and white supremacist senators as his friends.
Eric Levitz, nymag.com
Obviously, it’s not just Joe Biden who is complicit, but it is also the entire Democratic Party. It is impossible to atone for something so normalized as systemic racism over hundreds of years—or is it? Let’s just say that Joe Biden has a very steep mountain to climb in order to meet up with his voters who await him at the top come November. What the 77-year-old will soon realize is that the top of this mountain isn’t actually the top, but rather a plateau before the next leg up. He will need a young person who represents the future to help him with the climb.
In the context of the high stakes nature of his current situation, the especially consequential decisions must be scrutinized many times over. One such decision is choosing the correct vice president for this moment in history. It goes without saying that Biden is in need of the opposite of a yes-man character like Mike Pence. In order to adequately reconcile with his troubling voting record, seek redemption for his painful questioning of Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings and counter all past and future gaffes (and there will be many), Joe Biden must choose Stacey Abrams as his Vice President.
Similar to how Obama chose him as a running mate in order to give himself added credibility among traditional Democratic voters, Joe Biden must do the same for himself by choosing Abrams in order to give himself credibility among a new breed of Democratic voters. It is interesting how life—especially political ones—always seems to come full circle. Not only will Stacey Abrams give Joe Biden much-needed credibility among the more youthful and progressive, but she will also potentially bring all those Bernie and Warren voters into his camp. Let’s hope Joe can make the right decision.
Faisaling.com 
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