Empathy is the ability to put yourself in another’s shoes.
It’s an important trait for a president to have.
Here’s why the 2020 election is all about it.
Weve lost the lives of more than 178,000 Americans to the COVID-19 pandemic.
WevewatchedBlack men like George Floyd and Rayshard Brookes get killed by police officers.
Millions in the U.S. are without a job.
licensed mental health counselor and author ofThe Shadow Work Workbook
While accepting the Democratic presidential nomination, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. shared his intent to representallAmericans.
While Ill be a Democratic candidate, Ill be an American president, he said.
Thats the job of a presidentto represent all of us, not just our base or our party.
This is not a partisan moment, this must be an American moment.
Sen. Kamala Harris, who accepted the Democratic vice-presidential nomination, shared similar sentiments.
[My mother] pushed us to see a world beyond ourselves, she said.
She taught us to be conscious and compassionate about the struggles of all people.
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Empathy and politics should always coexist.
licensed mental health counselor and author ofThe Shadow Work Workbook
And last weeks speeches were steeped in emotion and personal experience.
Without Joe Biden, I wouldnt be speaking with you today.
We stutter, said Harrison.
He showed me how he marks his addresses to make them easier to say out loud.
So I did the same thing today.
Actress and convention moderator Julia Louis-Dreyfus shared how Bidens empathy has impacted her personally.
The two met when Louis-Dreyfus played Vice President Selina Meyer on HBOs Veep.
A couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with cancer and I was absolutely terrified.
One of the first people who called me was Joe.
Joe Bidens empathy is genuine.
you could feel it.
Thats why President Obama asked Joe to head upThe Cancer Moonshot.
President Obama knows what we all know: Joe Biden understands suffering, and loss, and sacrifice.
President Obama himself noted Bidens capacity for compassion in remarks delivered at the convention.
Joe and I came from different places and different generations, he said.
The Democratic partys message is clear: This election hinges on empathy.
But such levels of emotionality and vulnerability are often discounted.
Its seen as a hindrance, not a strength.
Caraballo says the opposite is true.
It creates all these sorts of problems.
We can make decisions based on really rational objective data, but wise choices also necessitate emotional subjectivity.
Emotion is actually just a data point.
Emotion should be a necessary data point used by our leaders.
That person wontmock people with disabilities.
And perhaps most importantly, that person wont put themselves before others.
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