There will never be another statesman like Joe Biden in our lifetimes. His accomplishments and brilliance as president are stellar. He faced world challenges that have been unimaginable. His skill, empathy, grace and political brilliance have been a gift to the American people.
He should take care of himself now. He has earned this time. Health is our first priority. We know he will continue to offer his knowledge and experience on behalf of the country he loves and have served his entire adult life.
Thank you for being our excellent president in every way!
— Elynne and Richard Aleskow, Chicago
Editorial insightful, even-handed
The editorial on President Joe Biden dropping out of the race was well written (“Biden finally bows to the inevitable and leaves race,” July 22). It was a very fair and balanced look at his career and eventual decision to drop from the race. Please keep up the even-handed and insightful writing in these difficult times.
— Joe O’Donnell, Tinley Park
Biden decided to put country first
I do not agree in the manner with which the Democratic Party (and media) essentially flattened President Joe Biden’s campaign for a second term. However, Biden made the brave, patriotic and self-effacing decision to put country first.
If only Biden’s predecessor and warped party of acolytes had an iota of truth-seeking sense and humility, perhaps our country could see the light of day and democracy at the end of this tunnel.
— Moisette Sintov McNerney, Arlington Heights
Democrats are undemocratic
The Democrats are not the party of freedom and democracy. They disenfranchised millions of voters by forcing Joe Biden to drop out of the general election. They ran an undemocratic primary and now tell us they are protecting democracy.
What a bunch of hypocrites. They resemble more an oligarchy of big money and not a political party in a democratic republic. They are exactly what they accuse the Republicans of being: a threat to democracy.
— Charles Michael Sitero, Ormond Beach, Florida
Kamala Harris isn’t well-liked
Democrats, recall and heed the warnings of 2016. For whatever reason, Kamala Harris is — like Hillary Clinton was — not liked. Even more is at stake in 2024. The Democratic Party, the nation, indeed the world, is holding its breath in fear of the return and ascent of Donald Trump.
Act now and decide on a nonpolarizing viable candidate through mini-primaries or an open convention.
— Ava Holly Berland, Chicago
DNC reverses course on Biden
The Democratic National Committee backed Joe Biden until it didn’t.
— Bruce R. Hovanec, Chicago
Biden capable to finish term
Just because Joe Biden can’t or doesn’t want undergo the strains of a vigorous campaign, and possibly doesn’t think he can serve another four years, doesn’t mean he can’t serve for the next six months — no matter what U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and other deep thinkers in Donald Trump’s GOP may argue.
— Michael M. Bates, Tinley Park
Thinking of grandkids’ future
President Joe Biden is a man who put country and democracy before himself. His integrity and moral standards represent what the ideal of our country is meant to be. Thank you to him for his consequential presidency. He showed humility and true love of our country to step back. That is leadership, that is fortitude, that is serious understanding of the importance of this election. Demagoguery and dictatorship loom.
I am old, so it is of not much consequence for me personally, but I believe in the future. I want the same future for my children and grandchildren that I have valued and benefited from in my life.
— Lynn Barkinge, Westmont
Kinzinger should be VP pick
Here’s a way to really unify America — put former Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger on the ticket with the new presumptive presidential nominee. This will give all those people who are fed up with partisan politics a place to go.
Furthermore, it will enable the White House to actually get things done without placing a stopgap on any legislation because of where it originates!
Aaron Sorkin suggested Mitt Romney. I doubt he would run, but I do think that millions of others would welcome a mixed ticket — finally!
— Ilene Wohlgemuth, Boca Raton, Florida
Harris is not fully engaged
Get over the idea that Kamala Harris is lacking in intelligence. She passed the notoriously difficult California bar exam. Dumb, she isn’t.
Her problem is that she doesn’t present herself as a serious person fully engaged in policy, and she may well not be. Can this be corrected? We just may see.
— Neil Gaffney, Chicago
Editorial board’s use of ‘elite’
Regarding the editorial “On the RNC floor in Milwaukee, Trump is the protector and Appalachia is in ascendancy” (July 21): What can be more “elite” than the Tribune Editorial Board parsing the country’s division as the elite versus the nonelite? Merriam-Webster defines the “elite” as a group of people who have a lot of power or influence due to their education or position. Thus, the editorial board could be part of the elite.
In 2020 and in 2016, a majority of the country’s voters said yes to the Democratic candidate and lost. Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden won office with the majority of votes cast. Can a majority really be “the elite”?
Another look: The Republican candidates for president and vice president were schooled at two of the nation’s most selective universities. The head of the Illinois Republican Party, Kathy Salvi, and her husband, Al, a former state representative, are attorneys, i.e., highly educated. The ultra-right Heritage Foundation is fully populated by graduates of elite universities, as are most of Donald Trump’s leading advisers and cheerleaders. Thus, we have an educated elite claiming to be the saviors of the nonelite.
No, it’s not just education that separates us. In logic, that conclusion would fail for having an undistributed middle. A significant portion of prospective Trump voters are well educated, but thankful that his appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court made abortion far more difficult to attain. They hope that court will overturn the ruling allowing same-sex marriage and add to rulings giving Christian religions government support.
There are highly educated, wealthy Americans opposed to higher taxation of their wealth. And there are among Trump supporters anarchists such as the Harvard University-educated Steve Bannon who would destroy our democracy as we know it.
Whoever is elected our next president will be part of the elite, and whoever loses will also be part of the elite as defined by “highly educated.”
The truth is we have policy differences not to be defined by educational achievement. But Trump, an elitist son of inherited wealth, and perhaps the Tribune Editorial Board, would so define us. Doing that makes us creatures of envy and poisonous passion.
— Roger Flaherty, Chicago
Bias is working against Harris
Kamala Harris is a fine person, but let’s remember that millions of women voted for Donald Trump in 2016 when he beat Hillary Clinton. Kamala Harris for president seems the right person to vote for in many ways, but it’s not the smart thing to do, unless we Democrats want to hand the presidency to Trump on a silver platter.
Misogynism and racism still prevail in America. Sad, but true.
— Richard Nolan, Park Ridge
Joe Biden’s greatest mistake
The depiction of Kamala Harris in Scott Stantis “cartoon” in Monday’s Tribune was purely disgusting but an appropriate companion to an editorial so disrespectful of Joe Biden, who has spent his political life in the service of our country.
Oh, and of the many “mistakes” the editorial board claims that Biden has made, it turns out that his greatest mistake ever was helping get Clarence Thomas appointed to the Supreme Court.
— John Feaster, Valparaiso, Indiana
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