A time for unity.

July 21, 2024

With his decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, President Biden confirmed his status of one of the greatest presidents of the last century. In bowing out as the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden put the interests of the American people above his own—a hallmark of his lifetime of service that is shared by precious few other politicians.

President Biden deserves much more to be said about his career in politics and the way he chose to end it. I can’t write those words today because I fear they would be tinged with my own disappointment, sadness, and anger. President Biden doesn’t deserve that. He deserves a fitting tribute that is beyond my abilities today. I will write it soon

Within minutes of President Biden’s announcement, my phone lit up with texts, emails, and calls from readers, friends, and family. This newsletter is devoted to helping each of us process this moment.

People used words like “heartsick,” “grieving,” “angry,” “betrayed,” and “bewildered” to describe how they are feeling. A few wanted to discuss selection of the new Democratic nominee, their prospects for success, and possible vice-presidential nominees. Some worried about GOP litigation to challenge the replacement candidate, while others were excited about a newly invigorated race.

Everyone with a platform is writing about this development. I will not belabor obvious points. Instead, I want to talk about you, about us, about the way forward.

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The way forward

The challenge we face after Joe Biden’s withdrawal is precisely the same challenge we faced before his announcement: We must defeat Donald Trump and every MAGA candidate seeking to impose their agenda of division, hate, fear and autocracy on the American people.

The only way forward is through unity.

Just as President Biden put the interests of America above his own, so must we. Though we may not feel like joining with other Democrats in this moment, we must overcome those feelings—soon.

Our moral obligation to create a unified movement to defeat Donald Trump transcends our personal feelings of anger, disappointment, and betrayal. How we feel about what happened is important (see below), but what is more important is the reproductive liberty of women, the equal rights of LGBTQ people, the voting rights of Black citizens, the protection of the climate, the financial security of retirees, the health of every American, our collective freedom from gun violence, our national security, and our access to justice under the rule of law protected by a judiciary free from corruption and partisan bias.

In our lifetimes, we will face no demand from our nation that is more difficult, urgent, and consequential. Unity—for the good of our democracy, for the good of all Americans, for the preservation of our nation.

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To those feeling angry and upset by the decision

Many people who have written to me are angry, sad, and grieving. Those feelings are understandable, reasonable, and appropriate. Take a few days to sit with those feelings. Imagine internal dialogs you would like to have with those you hold responsible for this result—and then move on without having those conversations. (I include myself in this group.)

While your feelings are righteous and real, there is nothing that can be said or done to change Joe Biden’s decision or answer the question of whether the decision was right or wrong. We will never know whether it was the right decision because Biden has chosen to stand down. Whatever the future brings, we cannot run alternative scenarios to determine which path was correct. We are on a path that does not include Joe Biden; arguing over paths that do include him will not advance our goal of defeating MAGA extremism.

This part is hard: Yes, the process to get to this point was unfair and cruel, but there is no room for retribution or “payback” for politicians who helped force Joe Biden out against his wishes. None. Any effort to punish Democratic elected officials because we are angry or upset with them will hurt Americans whose liberties, health, and safety depend on electing those Democrats.

Let me make it real: I am deeply disappointed with Rep. Adam Schiff’s position on Biden’s withdrawal. I have a fundraiser scheduled next month sponsored by Adam Schiff to help elect and re-elect ten Democratic Senate candidates. I will hold that fundraiser as scheduled and urge everyone to give until it hurts—because it is that important to protect our fellow citizens during the next four years.

Do not “write-in” protest candidates or urge others to do so. Doing so can jeopardize the control of Congress or state legislatures. Do not hesitate to support Democrats who are running in red states, purple states, or blue states. The fate of our democracy over the next four years depends on retaining control of the Senate and flipping the House. No part of achieving those goals involves punishing any Democratic candidate because they called for Joe Biden to step aside, even if they had the bad judgment to suggest he was unelectable or unfit to lead our nation.

In this moment, those rightfully feeling the most aggrieved and ignored—grassroots volunteers, Black voters, and women—are being asked (again) to be the bigger person, ignore the implications of what just happened, and save democracy for all of us. I wish it were otherwise, but it is not. Bless you for your continued steadfastness and loyalty. The nation is in your debt.

You will never receive the formal recognition that is due. Your reward for sublimating your feelings to advance Democratic unity will be a more just, secure, and tolerant nation. Everyone will share in the fruits of your labor, whether they contributed to the hard work or not. It is always so and will always be so. Do not waste time railing against the universal truth of all political progress. Embrace it and move forward.

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For those who hoped for this result

If Biden’s withdrawal is a result that you hoped for or helped to achieve, I urge you to become personally, actively, and monetarily involved in electing Joe Biden’s replacement. (I assume it will be Kamala Harris, but nothing is certain at this point.)

Many of you were passionate (and more) in your expressions that Biden withdraw from the race. I urge you to re-direct that passion into personal activism to elect Joe Biden’s replacement—whoever that may be. And if the new ticket is not the result you imagined, then—like your disappointed colleagues who hoped for Joe Biden—you must place the interests of the nation above your own wishes and give everything you’ve got to elect the Democratic ticket.

I hope to see the hundreds of you who advocated for the replacement of Joe Biden on Zoom calls in the coming months to help elect Democrats up and down the ballot. Being on those calls will be good for everyone—you, the “regulars” who attend such calls weekly, and for the fresh infusion of new voters who will be energized by the new ticket.

I have also heard from readers who are excited and happy about this outcome. That is understandable and appropriate for those who supported this result. However, I urge you to recognize that not everyone shares your elation. Despite the disappointment of Biden supporters, they will join you in electing a ticket they did not vote for or believe was the most likely to win. If they are willing to do that, then respecting their disappointment and thanking them for their commitment to a unity ticket is the right course of action. That will increase the likelihood that the Democratic ticket will win in November.

For anyone who believes that the right course of action is to try to convince disappointed Democrats that their feelings are wrong, unwarranted, or immature, I urge you to discuss that belief with a loved one or trusted advisor. While it may seem silly to mention this point, within minutes after Joe Biden’s announcement, I received emails from readers explaining that it was the right decision because Joe Biden was unfit and unelectable and asserting that the people who voted for Biden in the primaries didn’t really support him because the person sending the email felt like they had no choice.

Enough. You got what you wanted; explaining why you believe you were right to people who feel they were deprived of their choice is not a helpful path. If you can’t see that, I strongly suggest you engage in an “internet fast” until after the Democratic convention, at least.

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Party leadership’s role in selecting the nominee

I do not know what the correct path forward is for selecting the nominee. I do know that Democratic leaders in Congress must do a better job of leading the party to a consensus than they did in leading this discussion. I hope that every leader—current and former—will impose discipline on their staff members (current and former) to stop the leaks to the media. It is corrosive and dispiriting to the party faithful who believe their voices should carry equal weight to those of current and former staffers of party leaders.

And then there is this: Rightly or wrongly, many in the Democratic Party believe that this result was engineered by a small cadre of major donors and white men. (Check out social media and op-eds by women (not men) to confirm this perception.) Regardless of whether that belief is correct, the path forward must be viewed as open, consensus-driven, inclusive, fair, and orderly. That’s a tall order, but that’s where we are.

The shameful role of the press deserves mention, but I will do so later. I do not want to sully this newsletter by mentioning the commentators and analysts who turned the Democratic Party’s internal business into a blood sport for the amusement and anxiety of their subscribers.

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Opportunities for Reader engagement

While the effort to force out Joe Biden has consumed the media for the last four weeks, the work of grassroots volunteers has continued unabated. Check out the two opportunities below:

Join Jessica Craven, me, Markers for Democracy, and others for a conversation with Mecklenburg Democratic Party, and the New Voter Protection Director at North Carolina Democratic Party.

Meet the New Staff Leaders at the Mecklenburg Democratic Party, and the New Voter Protection Director at NCDP!

Hear the Mecklenburg Democrats' plans to canvass hundreds of thousands of homes and add tens of thousands of Democratic votes in the "gold mine" county of North Carolina.

Moderator: Caleb Theodros, Democratic nominee, Senate District 41 (Charlotte); former chairman, Black Political Caucus of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

Co-sponsored by Chop Wood Carry Water, Lean Left VT, Markers For Democracy, Swing Blue Alliance and Today's Edition.

https://www.mobilize.us/swingbluealliance/event/636949/

Join Airlift on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at 5:00 pm Pacific / 8:00 pm Eastern to discuss organizing in Michigan with “We the People”

In 2020, Michigan’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson endured armed demonstrators outside her home and received death threats after Trump called her a “Rogue Secretary of State.” For her courage in protecting the election, she received the JFK Profile in Courage Award. Airlift is proud to host Secretary Benson in a conversation about what is being done to protect voters and poll workers and counteract AI misinformation in 2024. 

Joining Secretary Benson will be organizers from We the People Action Fund, whose work was instrumental in fighting back against Michigan’s GOP’s attempts to disenfranchise Black and Brown voters and overturn the 2020 election results. Their organizing was crucial in turning out the vote in hard-to-reach communities throughout Michigan and flipping the state legislature for Michigan’s Blue trifecta. 

Although this is a fundraiser for We the People Action Fund  you do not need to donate to participate. Register here for an inspiring hope-filled program.

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Concluding Thoughts

I want to address two additional themes in emails from readers in my inbox today. Before I do, I want to acknowledge that in the short time it has taken to write this newsletter, there has been a decided turn toward optimism in emails from readers who are excited about Kamala Harris leading the ticket!

The first emails in my inbox after the announcement were from people who said they could not stand any more uncertainty in this election cycle. One reader used the word “unsettled” to describe the constant chaos and confusion. We are indeed in an unsettled state, but we have been so ever since Trump declared his candidacy in 2016. We have been unsettled for eight years, but we have battled, prevailed, and endured. We can do so again! Even better, Democrats will be the agents of change, unsettling the Republican Party with a different ticket that will re-energize the base!

Second, we must again acknowledge that the backbone of the Democratic Party at this moment is the grassroots movement. The Democratic Party leaders have taken the bold and unprecedented move of replacing a presumptive nominee because they believe the grassroots volunteers have their back. And they do. Thank you, grassroots volunteers. We see you. We know you are carrying the party on your shoulders during a challenging time.

My wife and Managing Editor, Jill Bickett, has published A Letter to Jill Biden on her daily blog. I believe my wife’s words will resonate and comfort many of you who are feeling sad about how Joe Biden has been treated.

Finally, the last word must go to Joe Biden. He is a good and decent man who devoted his entire life to his nation. He acted generously and magnanimously when others would have been bitter and combative. Joe Biden has not been perfect, but he has risen to the highest office in the land despite his stutter and gaffes. He did so because people rightly trusted in his goodness and decency. Thank you, Joe.

Talk to you tomorrow!

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Below is a photo of the Andromeda Galaxy that I took on Saturday night. The galaxy is 2.5 million light years from Earth and contains 1 trillion stars. The light particles captured in the photo left the Andromeda Galaxy before our ancestors left the savannas of Africa to populate the world.

The Andromeda Galaxy will collide with our own galaxy, the Milky Way, in four billion years. The Milky Way has 300 billion stars. But the distance between the stars is so vast, the collision of two galaxies with a combined 1.3 trillion stars will not result in the collision of individual stars. The stars will safely pass by one another in the unimaginably distant reaches of space that separate stars.

The bright “star” at the center of the Andromeda Galaxy is a dense nucleus of millions of stars. The “star” to the bottom right is another galaxy (M110).

1.3 trillion stars in two galaxies separated by 2.5 million light years. On a tiny blue dot circling around one of those 1.3 trillion stars, a nation is holding an election to continue a democracy that is only two-and-a-half centuries old. That could make us feel insignificant. It shouldn’t. So far as we know, life has emerged only once in those two galaxies. That life struggled over millions of years to create a fragile form of government based on the consent of the governed.

We are unimaginably fortunate to live during this period in a free nation on a tiny blue dot in the vastness of space. We should not be afraid or anxious; we should be bold and ferocious in preserving the young democracy that has gained a foothold on a planet circling one of the 1.3 trillion stars we can see in two galaxies in the night sky. Take a break. Look up at the night sky. You are here. Make it worthwhile!