Joe Biden is not a socialist and, as president, he will save our democracy | Opinion
With just three weeks until the most important election of our lifetimes, paid actors are propagating virulent disinformation on social media, in mailers, and on TV to foment fear and score political points. While there is nothing particularly surprising about this, there is one accusation I’ve seen floating around that I simply cannot abide by and must call out: the absurd charge that Joe Biden is a socialist, or simpatico with their cause.
The word ‘socialism’ is not one to be taken lightly, particularly in Miami-Dade County, where so many of our families fled such regimes. Under no circumstances can we debase ourselves by diminishing the painful significance of this word and using it as part of a political playbook — especially when the intent is to sow fear and division. These kinds of unfounded accusations are corrosive to our democracy; they’ve been unfairly spread with a broad brush against Democrats up and down the ballot in recent elections, but it is particularly galling and could not be farther from the truth to describe Vice President Biden.
As the proud son of Cuban refugees, I know socialism intimately and the horrors it can bring. I am overly familiar with the plight of Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Colombians and all of those who have escaped the clutches of communism. In 1960, my parents fled Cuba under Castro’s regime to create a better future for our family.
Let’s be clear: as a proud American, as a proud capitalist, there is no one more deserving of my vote in this election than Biden.
Biden has always been on the right side of democracy; as a senator and as vice president, he stood up to dictatorial leaders around the world. As vice president, Biden demanded the release of all political prisoners in Cuba who stood up to the regime. During the presidential primaries, Biden easily beat out all of the other Democrats who were far to his left, including a self-proclaimed socialist.
I also take solace and comfort in the fact that Biden is a practicing Catholic like myself and many others in our community. Even his campaign is driven at its heart by a desire to do good in this world, to drive out evil in this battle for the soul of our nation and to call out injustice wherever one sees it.
From his 40-plus years of public service to this nation, we know Joe Biden by his words and his deeds. We know he has been and will continue to be an advocate for the human rights of Cuban people, and for all those around the world who face oppression. We can count on him to keep our communities safe, too, with a strong record of supporting law enforcement and an ironclad commitment to providing local police across our country with adequate resources through additional federal aid. And unlike our current president, we can count on Biden to never cozy up to dictators, whether it’s Kim Jong Un or Vladimir Putin, or show admiration for Nicolàs Maduro and other strongmen.
More than that, we know that we can count on Biden to stand up for our community in South Florida. As a community devastated by coronavirus both from health and economic perspectives, we need a president who has a real plan to get the COVID-19 crisis under control.
The stakes of this election are extremely high. To defend our democracy and restore sanity to this country, I am ready to vote early and in person next week and proudly mark the name “Joe Biden” at the top of my ballot.
Alex Penelas was Miami-Dade County mayor from 1996-2004.
This story was originally published October 15, 2020 at 5:55 PM.