Now that Biden is out, can we please talk about the important issues? | Opinion

Now that President Joe Biden has dropped out of the race for reelection, can we please start talking about the issues?

The presidential campaign, for the most part, has focused on Biden’s age, mental acuity and ability to defeat his opponent, former President Donald Trump, perhaps rightly so, especially after Biden’s disastrous performance in the first presidential debate.

But the focus on Biden and his age means that we’ve lost focus of the issues that are at stake in this election.

We don’t know yet who the Democratic nominee will be. Biden already has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, but other names are being bandied about.

Whoever it is, though, our main wish is that we get on with talking about the issues and the differences between the candidates.

America tends to focus too much on “electability,” personality and horse-race polling when it comes to elections, and the Trump-Biden race has been no exception.

Our one wish is that when the Democratic Party selects its nominee, we can spend the following months leading up to the Nov. 5 election talking about the issues that really matter.

Project 2025, Trump’s dystopian government control plan, hasn’t received nearly enough scrutiny. Should we fire half the people who work for the federal government and replace them with people who pledge loyalty to the president?

Abortion rights and contraception also deserve rigorous vetting. Should we have a national abortion ban and remove mifepristone from pharmacy shelves?

We need a healthy debate on whether we’re going to privatize Social Security, give more tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy and chip away at Medicare and Medicaid.

Will we drill for oil in federally protected lands or will we double down on renewable energy in an effort to fight climate change?

How will the next president propose to ensure that no American goes bankrupt just because they got cancer?

Who will be best to tackle the federal government’s unsustainable budget deficit and $35 trillion national debt?

Gun violence — yes, including the assassination attempt on Trump — immigration, especially in light of the ongoing labor shortage in the U.S., and ensuring the right to vote (not some made-up scam about “stolen and rigged” elections) all need immediate attention.

Inflation indeed is a problem, especially hitting hard lower-income Americans whose wages aren’t keeping up with the wealth being accumulated by those at the top, who disproportionately benefited from the 2017 GOP tax cuts, Trump’s signature, and perhaps singular, accomplishment in office.

Not to mention whether the United States is going to allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade another country and get away with it. Which candidate will promise to defend NATO allies and which one promises to ignore an ally if they are invaded by Russia?

We have many problems in this country that need to be addressed.

Let’s hope whoever is at the top of the Democratic ticket can begin to discuss these issues instead of being the focus of news stories about their age.

This story was originally published July 21, 2024 at 2:42 PM.