“Character Matters”: Florida’s Sun-Sentinel Newspaper Endorses Joe Biden

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Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:09 pm

The Sun-Sentinel, the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Broward County and southern Palm Beach County, has endorsed Democrat Joe Biden for the presidency. The newspaper’s editorial board recommends “with enthusiasm and a sense of urgency, that voters elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to be the president and vice president of the United States. In so doing, the American people will answer whether our representative democracy, under the rule of law, is still worth keeping.”

“Character matters,” the editorial board continues. “Biden’s character has never been in question throughout 46 years of public service as a senator and as vice president… That cannot be said of President Donald Trump. “Regrettably, he has proved himself unfit, untrustworthy and unwilling to uphold the ideals embedded in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, or to take seriously his responsibility for the health and welfare of the American people and the lives of our armed service members overseas.”

The editorial board outlines a few key reasons for its endorsement:

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The coronavirus pandemic “has exposed unacceptable weaknesses in the health care system that was supposed to be the world’s best.”
“Many of our national problems predate Trump and both parties have been responsible for glossing over some and making others worse. It would be as unrealistic to expect the Biden administration to solve them all as to trust Trump to fix any. But we can expect honest, competent efforts from Biden and Harris.”
First things first: The virus needs to be confronted and controlled on the basis of science, rather than instinct. The nation must be better prepared for the next inevitable pandemic. That means rebuilding the Centers for Disease Control and the state departments of public health. That will go a long way to restoring the health of the economy.”
“Income inequality has grown to be the most glaring among 67 nations studied by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Growing numbers of Americans no longer expect, as their parents did, that their children will have a better life. That sense of alienation unquestionably contributed to Trump’s election, but he has done little for those who felt that way.”
“The death of George Floyd under the knee of a police officer has awakened millions of Americans to the reality of racism in the United States. Biden and Harris are the right people to confront that.”

As for President Donald Trump, the editorial board writes that his “fatal flaw, to the nation’s peril, is his narcissism. For the national interest, he can’t see beyond the nearest mirror.” Calling the coronavirus pandemic “the most vast and tragic leadership failure in our history,” it has forced the nation to pay “an intolerable price.”

The editorial board expresses its hope that its message is heard by “all independents and responsible Republicans, whose votes could determine the outcome of this election.”

“Trump is no conservative. He is an illiberal, demagogic populist who appeals to racism and misogyny for a critical mass of votes and is inflaming the divisions in an already polarized nation. Whatever benefits some people see in his economic policies, they are not worth that price,” they write. “The president should set an example of personal decency. Trump is vulgar, crass, coarse and vicious toward anyone, even in his own party, who disagrees with him. He cannot admit a mistake for fear that it would make him look weak. When a reporter asked him recently whether he regrets lying to the American people, he couldn’t come up with an answer. He is shrewd, calculated and cunning, but those traits do not substitute for intelligence, thoughtfulness and curiosity.”

“The nation cannot afford four more years of him,” they conclude. “It needs the Biden-Harris ticket to make things right.”

Alan Herrera

Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.