The Biden administration’s argument that his economic policies are the key to his win in 2024 is contradictory to the visceral experience of the majority of Americans. Those policies help assuage the stress, but they do not end the suffering of millions of Americans. It lifts twenty percent of Americans, while essentially leaving 80% of Americans in chronic economic despair. According to CNBC, 70% of Americans live with constant economic stress.
In the 1970s, the average American worker could afford a car, a house, a yearly vacation, and to send their kids to college. Why is that no longer true? Because our middle class has been hollowed out, to the tune of a $50 trillion transfer of wealth into the hands of one percent of Americans. Bidenomics does not end that injustice; it merely softens it. And it will not win in 2024.
I am running for president because I have seen up close the ubiquitous despair that pervades the lives of far too many Americans. I have prayed with many, I have inspired many, I have served people to the best of my ability in the charitable and nonprofit sectors.
But I cannot give people healthcare. I cannot pave the way for them to go to college. I cannot help them get childcare or paid family leave. I cannot grant them a living wage. I cannot provide them a healthier, more sustainable, more peaceful world. As a president, I could bend the arc in that direction for all of those things.
That is the winning message for 2024, because it is what the American people deserve and want.
I have seen how power works in America. I have been in the rooms where the most important decisions are made, decisions that affect the lives of millions. And I can tell you this: there is no Wizard of Oz behind the curtain in Washington. While some would say I’m not qualified to be president because I don’t have the skills of a political wizard, I would argue the opposite. I’m running for president to help pull down the curtain.
America doesn’t need more of them; America needs more of us. We don’t need more political technicians: we need more political vision. We don’t need more political car mechanics: we need someone to turn around the car.
I feel I am that person, and with your help we can create a fundamental shift in the direction of our country. We can help alleviate the anxiety of many millions of Americans now living in the shadows, for all intents and purposes forgotten by our political establishment.
It is our time. We can do this. Our work has only just begun.
With deep appreciation,
