For millions of people across the country, including me, the election frenzy created a lot of stress during the week of November 3rd. Anxiety levels were at an all-time high, but once Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were announced the projected winners of the race, it felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I jumped up and down in my apartment on the Saturday that Biden and Harris won back the “Blue Wall,” surely waking my downstairs neighbors. The Biden-Harris victory has given me a newfound sense of hope, not just for the country, but for our future. Even with President Trump’s refusal to concede, the steps Biden and Harris are currently taking shows we will finally have real leaders in office.
The coronavirus pandemic is one of the greatest challenges our country has faced, and I trust that Biden’s task force will successfully guide the American people. Biden has gathered a team of advisors who are experts in their fields, come from all walks of life, and, most importantly, will not politicize science. The team is already developing plans to increase testing across the country, implement a national mask mandate, and use the Defense Production Act to produce PPE for our frontline healthcare workers. These experts, along with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, recognize the importance of simple things like wearing a mask, socially distancing, and acknowledging just how dangerous the disease is. Biden, Harris, and their task force are people who won’t debate facts; they will prioritize the pandemic as a health crisis first, and an economic crisis second.
As a member of the younger generation, I also believe climate change is an extremely important issue that needs to be addressed before the damage to the planet becomes irreversible. What keeps me hopeful about the Biden-Harris platform is that, within the first one hundred days of being in office, Joe Biden plans to put us back into the Paris Climate Accord; his other goals include working toward a clean energy economy and promoting the Green New Deal.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are in touch with what their voters care about regarding this issue. They listen to the younger generation not because they have to, but because they believe in our power and ability to change the world. While the President refuses to concede or deal with issues other than the election, I have hope that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will unite a deeply divided country in solving the most urgent issues of our lifetimes.
Leaders like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are ones we can all look to with admiration and inspiration. I believe in Biden and Harris, because they’re good listeners, as well as resilient and hardworking politicians who have maintained strong characters throughout their careers.
Joe Biden has experienced great loss in his life, yet he has never stopped his duty to public service; his pain has allowed him to empathize with the struggles of the American people. In his nearly fifty-year political career, he has shown compassion, decency, and willingness to work across political lines, with both parties, for the greater good.
Kamala Harris is a fearless, respected woman of color who has spent her career fighting for marginalized voices and prioritizing social issues that others refused to address. She has used her experiences to create a more equal system. Her time as a district attorney and attorney general have proven she is more than capable of the job and unafraid to take on American institutions that need to be deeply reformed.
These simple qualities of human decency and morality are traits that give me hope the Biden-Harris administration will contribute significantly to a country that has experienced so much darkness in the past four years. With each of their strengths, Biden and Harris represent a dynamic duo that will stand strong in the face of challenge and change the nation for the better.
Actions speak louder than words: While Trump and his administration have focused on baseless lawsuits for “election fraud,” Biden and Harris are already working to create a better future for America. I voted for the first time in this election, and I’m so proud and excited to see what the Biden-Harris administration will do. There is no doubt that the next four years will be a great challenge for the incoming pair, but, more than anything, I believe they will usher in a new era of compassion, healing, and hope.