Ryan Helfenbein: Biden & Sanders: Two Sides of the Same Democratic Coin

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders (Joe Raedle / Getty)
Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Former Vice President Joe Biden is the clear frontrunner for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, marking a major political comeback in what started as a very dismal and lackluster campaign.

Biden has not only won the majority of delegates but he has secured the majority of endorsements from former democratic challengers.  The most important statement from his Super Tuesday speech came when Biden called for unity with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in order to defeat Donald Trump.

Americans taking stock of the Democratic race are not unfamiliar with apparent differences between Biden and Sanders. The primary race is not over, but Democrats are coalescing around Biden as their most electable candidate and with the common goal of landing a Democrat in the White House.  

Biden and Sanders have far more in common on abortion, religious liberty, gun rights, health care, immigration, economic policy, and education than what the media has portrayed. Biden, the so-called “moderate,” and Sanders, the “democratic socialist,” are really two sides of the same Democratic coin.

So far, the media continues to provide cover for Biden’s candidacy by painting him as a “centrist” Democrat and by ignoring his many campaign gaffes.  The fact is that many of Biden’s positions are just as damaging and harmful to the Constitution and American freedom as Sanders’s would be. 

Simply put, a Biden presidency would be a major setback and defeat for Americans who want to protect the unborn, defend religious liberty, maintain a robust economy, recognize the right to bear arms, and promote American peace through strength at home and abroad.

Biden would reverse the Hyde amendment, which has been law since 1976, which prohibits taxpayer-funded abortion advancing a big government agenda of abortion-on-demand with devastating consequences on children in the womb.  

In addition, the former five president declared that he would put former Texas congressman and presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, a staunch advocate of gun control, in charge of gun policy. Biden later argued with a factory worker in Detroit, Michigan, who was defending the Second Amendment. The video of their exchange went viral. 

Biden has promised to sign the deceptively-named Equality Act, which would enable big government to interfere with private businesses, non-profits, private colleges, and churches that continue to affirm and uphold traditional views on marriage and sexuality. This sweeping change would have a massive impact on people of faith everywhere.

Biden has also embraced numerous elements of the “Green New Deal,” which would be a major setback for U.S. production and manufacturing, and cost American taxpayers trillions of dollars while causing major job losses.  

While some in the media argue that a Biden administration would be a return to “normal,” it would pose a substantial threat to the values of the majority of Americans. If the Democrats were to control a Senate majority, with only 50 or 51 seats, they could approve judges at will. They may also end the filibuster for ordinary legislation, ensuring that destructive regulation would prevail without any bipartisan consensus.

Democrats like Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-Ny), and Biden, who represent the old-guard establishment wing of the Democratic Party want the same big-government policies that Sanders does, just without the  “socialist” label. 

It is apparent to anyone watching this race closely that they do not represent the values and interests of most Americans. Whether Biden or Sanders, conservatives need to be wary that unfettered, permanent big government control over life and liberty would be certain.  

Ryan Helfenbein is the Vice President of Communications and Public Engagement at Liberty University and Executive Director of the Falkirk Center for Faith & Liberty.

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