It’s a tough job to fill: President of the United States. No matter who is in the office, there are people and groups always looking to either loudly support their efforts or boo them mercilessly like a pro wrestling heel.
Americans have been and continue to vote, as this column is being written, either for four more years for President Donald Trump or to give former Vice President Joe Biden a chance to sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.
Both men have their loud support groups; Trump with his MAGA (“Make American Great Again”) loyalists and Republicans, and Biden with his Democrats and a large number of “Never Trumper” Republicans making up his merry band of followers.
Politics is not a pretty game. It’s nasty, gnarly, filled with con men and women, and raises peoples’ hopes that these politicians will work together for the common good of everyone… only to get disappointed again and again.
One way politicians learn to connect with voters is in finding common ground. Usually, a politician will make a speech, remember a situation he or she was in during their lives, and allow the gathered masses to know that they (the politicians) understand the peoples’ plight.
In other words, the silent message is “I know how you feel and I’ve been there, too.”
This is rather odd because what you see and hear may not reflect this message at all.
Trump, who has continued to hold mass rallies filled with his disciples doing a big “F-U” to COVID-19 precautions, is bellicose, loud, boisterous, and makes claims that fact-checkers over and over again call him out on.
“The Donald,” as he was known for a long, long time in his reality TV star and real estate mogul days, never has been one to give a damn about anyone but himself. He’s had a personal life filled with multiple marriages, bankruptcies, lawsuits, affairs, and an alleged connection to late child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, and his now-imprisoned girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Author Jeff Pearlman’s book “Football For A Buck” traces the rise and fall of the United States Football League and Trump’s ego-filled, maniacal act that left him with $1 as a settlement in his lawsuit against the National Football League. It was Trump who destroyed the USFL… all because of his arrogance and hunger for power and control.
Biden, who has held socially-distanced political rallies and speeches, has been in the political light for 40-plus years. From his time as a U.S. senator from Delaware to his service as President Barack Obama’s vice president for two terms, he’s had a lot of his professional and private life available for public review.
His personal life has included losing his first wife and infant daughter in a 1972 auto accident. His two sons, Beau and Hunter, were injured but survived the accident. Those sons have been under scrutiny from Biden opponents.
Beau, who was attorney general of Delaware and served in the U.S. military, died of brain cancer at age 46. Hunter has dealt with substance abuse issues in his life and been investigated for an alleged deal with Ukraine. Joe Biden himself has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman during his tenure in the U.S. Senate.
Now that their pluses and minuses have been displayed, here’s the question:
“Who is displaying a greater sense of empathy toward Americans?”
I’ll give you the answer: Biden.
This might not mean a damn thing to you at all. Empathy and compassion are for fools and weak-minded voters, some people may think. OK fine.
Like I said earlier, politics is a nasty game. It is not for the faint of heart. But look at how both candidates present themselves to you.
If Trump is your guy, then you love his Twitter rants, making fun of people’s names and physical limitations, dismiss his lack of emotional depth around 220,000-plus Americans who have died from COVID-19 (as he continues to call it the “China virus” and say it’s going away soon), and just love, love, love his tough-guy act.
If Biden is your guy, then you love his political experience, ability to speak directly to the common man and woman, his public expressions of care and compassion toward his constituents and enemies alike, and just love, love, love his nice-guy act.
Now you, as an American, have to decide whether or not an individual with empathy should be President of the United States. Past presidents have been able to display a modicum of this emotional feeling at important times in history. Whether they were Democrats or Republicans, there were times that those differences were put to the side for a minute or longer.
You can disagree with my assessment. You have the power of the ballot box in your own hands. Empathy and compassion might not mean anything to you at all. In fact, you might even consider those elements as weaknesses.
Yet, I submit to you there are people who are thirsty for a leader to show that he cares about humanity.
If an election solely rested on the topics of empathy and compassion, then Biden would win. But it doesn’t in the United States. There are a lot more factors in play this year, one filled with health, economic, and racial elements in a heightened state.
Who you choose when you vote (or have voted) is your personal choice. You have different views on what matters in a presidential candidate. I ask you to consider whether empathy matters to you not just in a president but in your very own life, too.
You make the call, friend.
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Photo Credit: @element5digital on Unsplash