After four days of anxiously waiting for election results, and almost a year and a half of anticipation to this election, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was finally elected President of the United States. 

Biden beat out a diverse and crowded field of candidates in the 2020 Democratic Primary. I support Biden because of his experience and policies that he has worked on to date, along with his pledge to work on legislation that is instrumental in implementing the policies I support. He has proven to be a bipartisan legislator who is committed toward a better future for Americans.

I was thrilled when Biden won Pennsylvania and officially got the number of electoral votes he needed to secure the presidency, as I feared many more awful things would happen during a second term from President Donald Trump. I feared that my friends who rely on Obamacare would have to find alternatives for healthcare, which is especially bad during a pandemic such as COVID-19. I feared that friends who came into this country seeking a better future or safety would be deported, unable to live that better future. I feared that special events, planned activities, or personal milestones would continue to be cancelled due to COVID-19, or that someone I know may be the next person to be infected with the disease. 

While the Republican Party continues to deny climate change and refuses to take action during this crisis, Biden has made me feel energized and hopeful about a future where our earth is cared for and everyone does their part to keep it that way. As a member of Generation Z, I felt that Trump’s denial of climate change would have the most effects on our generation as his actions would have quickened us to a point where we can’t change our behavior to help our planet. Amnesty International conducted a worldwide research study in 2019 that included 18-25 year olds. 41% of participants in the study listed climate change as the most important issue facing their country. Another 36% of participants said pollution, which is one of the causes of climate change. All of us have a duty to our planet to keep it the way it is and we have to take guidance from our leaders. If our leaders don’t take action to stop climate change, people will take cues from their leadership and not do their part to help the planet. Biden is the strongest choice to combat climate change and will take action to help our planet. For example, he has pledged to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, preserve more federal lands, stop offshore drilling in the Arctic, and invest in green energy and infrastructure, all of which will slow global warming and help stop climate change. 

As a Jewish person and a Zionist, I believe a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I, along with many other Jews, found that the Trump administration’s actions regarding Israel during his presidency were not helpful in working towards a peaceful solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. His decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv will not solve anything in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while his support of Isareli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s building of settlements in the West Bank was also the wrong choice. Personally, I have been in Israel while there was fighting. It was scary to be there while rockets were being launched and I hope that under a Biden administration, a plan toward peace in the region will stop this fighting. Biden said he will work toward a peaceful solution to this conflict that both sides will favor during his presidency and will hopefully bring back the bipartisan support our government had for Israel and a two-state solution before the Trump Administration. 

I am energized by Biden’s upcoming presidency and believe that at this time, it is what is best for America. I am hopeful that he will appoint a diverse cabinet, of many races, ethnicities, and faiths. I also hope that his cabinet will be diverse ideologically and that it will include people who are both much more progressive than Biden and more conservative. That is the way I hope this country will come together. 

I do respect the people who support Trump for economic reasons, such as how we should handle the economy and how money should be spent, or how we should treat our foreign allies. If people think that under the Trump presidency the economy has improved and they are in a better place than they were four years ago, it is their choice to vote for him and that is the beauty of our democracy. I have trouble respecting people who refuse to accept others human rights such as their race, religion, sexual identity, or the right for women to control their own body. That is why I am happy that Biden won and I hope that people will accept the election results and our democratic system. 

Over the last four years, I have seen pictures of kids at the border locked up in cages and separated from their parents, along with photos and articles about Muslims not being allowed into this country just because their religion is saddening. Seeing my black friends scared that they may become the next George Floyd or Breonna Taylor is scary and something that no one should go through. Being scared that our earth may be forever changed because of human impact is terrifying. Knowing that anyone can contract COVID-19 and that so many people are missing someone who died because of COVID-19 is frightening. I am scared that I may be the next person to lose someone due to COVID-19, a fear that many other Americans echo since this virus is uncontrolled and spreading everywhere.. Under a Biden presidency, our country will return to normal and be a leader who will do what is best for the people and their future.