Op-Ed: Independents may not like Biden, but they abhor Trump
A decade ago, I began to write a monthly column in the New York Daily News, and the subject of my writing became the Democratic Party. At the time, I believed most Democrats would vote for either Rudy Giuliani or Al Gore. Since then, I have watched the Democratic Party evolve from a party that was largely a political party for suburbanites to one that is increasingly a social-media, youth-oriented party of young, urban voters.
The shift has been a bit of a shock to me. For over a decade, I felt that a lot of Democrats were out-of-touch with where their party was going. It’s been over a decade since I began my column, but I find that feeling still very much alive.
As I write this column in the New York Daily News, President Donald Trump is the sitting president and a new and highly polarizing Democratic candidate is the presumptive nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden.
Trump does not inspire the same degree of outrage as did former President George W. Bush. His actions are seen as a political blunder, not a gross violation of the oath of office. Trump has not been responsible for much, but the criticism is not constant.
A lot of Democrats are furious with him. They do not see what they see as the real threat to the country. For the most part, their anger with Trump is visceral. And it is directed at the president’s character and his actions rather than his policies.
I have lived a long political life, and I have witnessed many changes over the years. Republicans, on the whole, tend to have more patience in the early stages of political movements. They may be outraged, but they do not make sweeping changes until they are able to understand why the other side is angry at the person they perceive as the biggest threat to the country.
The Democrats I have met, friends and political acquaintances, usually understand why people are angry with Trump, but that understanding does not translate into immediate action.
It’s a long way from the Tea Party anger of 2009 to the current anger of the left.
Independents don’t like Biden. There is no question about that. And he has proven to be a very effective Democratic nominee. But he is a politician. He cannot go around the country without being forced to respond to criticism. And
