Joe Biden: Hope for a better day?

Art+by+Elliott+Montbriand

Art by Elliott Montbriand

Zack Robie, Staff Writer
February 10, 2021

Having been officially sworn-in less than a month ago, it is important in this current political climate to carefully examine the moves made by current U.S. President, Joe Biden. 

Within his first few days in office, President Biden put out several executive orders such as rejoining the Paris Agreement, coordinating a government-wide response to COVID-19, and cancelling the Keystone XL pipeline permit. He also made several radical race- and gender-based moves, including the incorporation of undocumented immigrants into census data, pulling funds from Trump’s infamous border wall project, and reversing the transgender military ban. 

This does, however, beg the question buzzing in the heads of many who voted blue: Will Biden be enough? 

It’s easy to have hope when examining the many, many things on the docket as of late, in addition to the historical nominations for positions in the White House, the Senate, and the House. Along with the first Black female vice president, Democrats are celebrating cabinet picks like Rachel Levine, the first openly transgender federal official in the U.S. government, and Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay Secretary of Transportation.

It’s the curiosity, then, which eats away at those poised on the edges of their seats. Can Biden really get this country on track after being hit with a global pandemic, mismanagement from previous leaders, and a significant rise in hate-related crimes? 

The past four years saw violent protests, police brutality, and the most significant death toll on the American (and global) population in the better part of a decade—and that’s putting it lightly.

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Will Biden be enough?

There is an incredible amount of pressure weighing on Joe Biden’s shoulders to assist in Americans’ debts, as well as to amp up vaccine rollout and help America end its violent relationship with the novel coronavirus. 

Can he do it? I am cautiously optimistic. There is a lot at stake, and it will take a long stretch of time before Biden is able to make even the most substantial of dents in the issues that have been wracking up in this country. 

Electing a new official leader is one small step.

It’s hard to suddenly be promised a light at the end of a seemingly endless tunnel—similar to many others, I am beginning to feel a strong sense of political burnout, particularly when realizing all the work that is yet to be done. 

There needs to be serious change in our law enforcement, economic systems, public health, and safety. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! 

But cautious optimism keeps many of us going when factoring in the fact that there is an end in sight. Everything must eventually end, and we are beginning to see changes being made. 

Nursing students on our very own Portland campus have begun the inoculation process, and despite Linfield’s current Covid-19 numbers, there still seems to be hope lurking somewhere around the corner. 

With Joe Biden behind the wheel of this bus, there is a glimmer of hope in that something, somewhere has begun to change. We are entering an American “age of observation”; we have learned what happens when we don’t hold elected officials accountable for their actions. With that in mind, it will be a slightly less bumpy ride into 2021 with Biden than anything we could have seen with another four years of Trump. 

There is hope lingering on the horizon of a new day, a brighter day, in which we are cautiously able to once again experience life as it was made to be.