See Disclaimer. This article is part of the “Letters to our future President” series.
Dear Mr. Biden
Your speech in Gettysburg, on October 6, was a powerful reminder that we all should be able to recognize and vote for patriotism, decency and leadership.
These three attributes define you. And they are, perhaps more than ever, what we need in our next President. Because we need “[y]our presidency [to] be about making us believe again that we are a government for and by the People. That decency and honesty matter—as do science and education. That we strive to, and thrive in becoming a better Union. That a better political system is possible. That we are all Americans, with far more in common than what separates us. […]” (Letters to our future President).
While an independent, I have expected to vote for the Democratic candidate since long before the primaries. In fact, appalled by the disastrous path of the Trump presidency, I wrote back in 2017: “Because of its complicity with an unfit and disruptive President and because of extremely poor legislative choices and practices as exemplified by the Tax Reform, the Republican party has forfeited my vote for the foreseeable future.”
And I further wrote: “In 2018 and 2020, I will [vote] for Democrats, independents or third-party candidates—as ethically, strategically and pragmatically best to terminate Republican majorities in Congress and to elect a non-Republican President” [highlight added for emphasis]. In our two-party system, electing a non-Republican President ‘pragmatically’ means electing a Democratic one.
What you bring to the table that matters greatly is also meeting any reasonable ‘ethically’ and ‘strategically’ requirements. Furthermore, you have the temperament and natural inclination to work across the political spectrum, towards re-connecting us all as Americans. I thus believe that you are truly the right candidate, at the right time!
Importantly, I am far from alone. The list of your endorsements is long, and most remarkable by its political breadth. Americans of all stripes are coming together to put country above politics. That, alone, is a major positive step towards change, away from the corrosive divisiveness that is destroying America.
Much like that of many of your other endorsers, my vote for you is not a vote of confidence in our current political system. In fact, as I also said in 2017, “[w]ithout compromising the 2018-2020 goals, I will[continue to] promote a true multi-party system where no party can govern with arrogance and disregard for the best interests of the American People.”
Instead, my vote for you expresses strong confidence in your character, competence and open-minded nature. It recognizes that your vision and plans are patriotic and implementable. It demonstrates trust in your leadership, and in your ability to re-establish a sense of normalcy that we desperately need. It is guided by the hope that you will enable our differences to once again become a strength—rather than today’s debilitating weakness.
Lives, livelihoods and the future of our country and planet all depend on your election—and on the election of a supportive Congress.
— Antonio Baptista
Note to readers: The official campaign site contains a very long list of endorsements of Mr. Biden from Labor, Governors, US Senators, US Representatives, Mayors, and members of the Obama Administration. But Mr. Biden’s support and/or the unequivocal rejection of Mr. Trump, are much broader–as modestly illustrated below; for a far more comprehensive list, see this Wikipedia page.
Notable Republicans
• Cindy McCain on Endorsing Joe Biden | The View
• Republican Governor John Kasich on Why He’s Voting for Biden
• Michael Steele: Imagine | The Lincoln Project
Republican groups
• The Lincoln Project
• Republican voters against Trump
• Republicans and independents for Biden
Religious groups
• Not Our Faith
• Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden
Military and National Security leaders
• Jim Mattis: In Union There Is Strength
• National Security Leaders For Biden
First ever presidential endorsement/rejection in the history of these publications
• The New England Journal of Medicine: Dying in a Leadership Vacuum
• Scientific American endorses Joe Biden
• Surfer Magazine: Why Surfers Should Vote For Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. If you care about the future of surfing, vote like it
Editorial Boards
• New York Times: End Our National Crisis. The Case Against Donald Trump
• Washington Post: Joe Biden for President
• USA Today: Elect Joe Biden. Reject Donald Trump
Outside the box 
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