Why this Democratic voter thinks Biden could deliver ‘one of the most liberal Democratic platforms we’ve had in generations’

‘I’m African American, and we’re really rooted in this idea … we’ve always talked about things in terms of utility. Can you actually get this done for the betterment of the most amount of people?’

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Bryan Coleman comes from a family of pragmatic voters. Born and raised on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, the registered Democrat and recent Master’s graduate studied international relations and political science at the University of California, San Diego, after spending time in the nation’s capital during the 2016 presidential election cycle.

In a recent interview with The Independent, he says that time had a deep impact on his goals for the future, as it did for many of the ideological young people he surrounded himself with.

“We all had a similar anxiety about what we could do to make our future brighter, because a lot of people had doubts about their prospects [following the election of Donald Trump], Coleman adds. “No matter what walk of life they were coming from, they saw this as taking a turn for the worse. But they all wanted to do something, which was heartening to me.”

‘I think Joe Biden can do a whole lot if he has the mind to’ (Photo courtesy Bryan Coleman)

Just because Coleman is a pragmatist does not make him any less passionate about the state of current affairs. He wants to see real change surrounding issues like gun violence, climate change, income inequality and healthcare.

However, he says he simply has a different mindset about how to achieve his goals in those areas than some other voters his age.

“I’m African American, and we’re really rooted in this idea … we’ve always talked about things in terms of utility. Can you actually get this done for the betterment of the most amount of people?” he explains about his voting strategy. “We’ve thought that way from civil rights to now. If you can’t get something accomplished, then the promise doesn’t mean anything in many ways, because then it won’t be able to be enacted.”

Coleman says his mind is set on working for the federal government, and one day running for higher office. He’s been searching for jobs at the State and Commerce Department, in the hopes he can gain the skills and experience he believes is vital to serving as an elected official.

“I’ve always been an advocate of technocratic government,” he says, adding that “those in politics should have competency”.

“They don’t need to be geniuses,” he continues. “We don’t need a bunch of savants running around that are competent in multiple things. But you do – in my opinion you should – have a core competency in some way that is meaningful for the government, so that when issues are brought to you, you’re not out of place.”

It’s another apparent component of his pragmatic philosophy: learn how the system works from the inside to effect the most change possible.

That’s why Coleman says former vice president Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, is an “excellent candidate” for the White House.

He says he initially supported both Elizabeth Warren and the former VP in their bids for the Democratic nomination, and is now looking forward to casting a ballot for Biden after the Massachusetts senator dropped out of the race.

What’s more, he thinks a Biden administration may very well shock voters his age.

“I support him, I think getting Trump out is the priority, but I also think he has the relationships and the know-how to get things passed, which I think could surprise people,” he says. “A friend said to me Biden could be like Lyndon Johnson. Johnson got the Civil Rights Act passed because he knew so much – he had been one of the best Senate leaders the country ever had. He had all the connections, he had the know-how, he was an insider.”

“I think Joe Biden can do a whole lot if he has the mind to,” Coleman adds.

Click here to read more of The Independent’s series, Polarized: Voices From Across America

There’s just one problem: many of the progressive voters he has spoken to who supported Bernie Sanders – a critical faction of the Democratic Party which Biden is now trying to woo into voting for him – don’t seem to have an intention to cast a ballot for anyone besides the Vermont senator, despite him suspending his campaign last month and endorsing the former vice president.

“I think a significant portion of people who support Bernie Sanders wouldn’t vote for anyone who isn’t Bernie Sanders anyway,” he says, while noting that there are still many Sanders supporters who will, in fact, go on to vote for Biden.

“There’s a little brand loyalty, and not a whole lot of politicking going on. It’s more appeal,” he explains as to why some young voters who supported the Vermont senator would refuse to vote for Biden, or even someone like Warren, a progressive whose platform was closely aligned with that of Sanders.

“This candidate, this fiery candidate who seems real – ‘authenticity’ is the word I heard a lot – that couples well with the ideological fervour of not just the candidate himself but his base,” Coleman says. “They’re not inclined to compromise because they weren’t even really interested in politics to begin with; they viewed politics as a vehicle to accomplish these ends. So negotiating isn’t really in their repertoire.”

“I think there’s a limit in that respect as to what a Joe Biden or Elizabeth Warren could do [to earn their vote],” he continues. “On the positive side, there’s plenty of Bernie Sanders’s people who are politically savvy. Compromise is there, they just want Biden to commit to certain things, which I think is a very pragmatic way of looking at it.”

It’s not that bold plans like a Green New Deal or Medicare-for-All are unrealistic, Coleman says, but rather that there needs to be a plan for what happens when a preferred candidate is successfully elevated to their desired position.

“You can’t ignore what happens after 20 January,” he says. “If you don’t think that way, you’ll be disappointed, because your man or woman will get in office and then they’re not able to get the policies passed.”

Coleman concludes: “If he keeps to it, Biden’s presidency could be one of the most liberal Democratic platforms we’ve had in generations. In fact, it could probably be the most progressive presidency since Johnson.”