It’s almost go time. The long-awaited, much-debated, some say totally-dreaded, US presidential election, is nigh.
Former President Donald Trump vs. current Vice President Kamala Harris.
If you’ve already voted, no need to read further unless you want to second guess yourself. If you haven’t yet voted, then by all means, read on and promise you won’t be angry with me at the end.
First up, why vote for Kamala Harris?
Please don’t tell me she’s an amazing candidate and will make an amazing president.
Don’t tell me she has an exciting new vision for what America can be, and that’s she’s articulated some impressive policy initiatives she would focus on if elected.
Aside from giving away taxpayer money and telling supermarkets not to price gouge, do you really believe her handling of the economy would be better than Joe Biden’s?
Please don’t tell me her foreign policy will enhance America’s standing in the world. Honestly, I would appreciate it if you could tell me what her foreign policy would actually be.
Speaking of foreign policy, you should definitely vote for Harris if you still view the turmoil in the Middle East as an Israeli vs. Palestinian battle and not what it actually is, a battle of western values vs. the values of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Do you remember when she said the so-called genocide of Palestinians in Gaza by Israel is “real?”
Harris and her colleagues in the Democratic Party are still living in a world where the establishment of a Palestinian state would solve all the problems of the Middle East. Not.
If we’re really being truthful with each other, after months of campaigning, we still don’t have a firm grasp on just who Harris is, what her vision for America is, and how she’s going to achieve it.
It’s fairly obvious she’ll govern as a left-of-center Democrat, emphasis on left, heavily influenced by former President Barack Obama and some of his key policy advisers.
In my mind, a vote for Kamala Harris boils down to three things.
You are concerned about abortion rights.
You’re ok with progressivism on a national and local level
You fear four more years of Donald Trump.
Okay, let’s move on to the other candidate.
Please don’t tell me Trump has an uplifting and inspiring vision of what America can be. It’s American carnage, redux.
Please don’t tell me he’s articulated some new and impressive policy initiatives. Not taxing earnings from tips and drill baby drill, aren’t brainstorms. Deporting millions of illegal immigrants is about as practical as building a wall on the southern border and making Mexico pay for it. It didn’t happen and it ain’t gonna happen.
Please don’t tell me he doesn’t admire dictators and strongmen and that none of the bad things in the world would have happened if he was president. That’s nonsense. Being crazy and unpredictable isn’t a foreign policy.
Please don’t tell me you are absolutely certain he’ll be good for Israel. Granted, he has a good track record from his time in office, but remember when he was pissed at Bibi Netanyahu because Bibi congratulated Joe Biden on becoming president? Remember when he said that if he lost the election, Jews would be partly to blame?
Although the Republican Party rightly understands that the conflict in the Middle East is a battle for western values, Trump can easily be influenced by the isolationists in his orbit like Tucker Carlson, and in no way can that be good for Israel.
Most importantly, realize that if you cast your vote for Trump, you are willfully ignoring the events of January 6th, 2020.
The attack on the Capitol was fomented by Trump and his election denialism.
The attack on the Capitol went on unabated, due to his refusal to tell his followers to stop.
If you don’t want to heed the words of what Trump is that come from John Kelly, his former White House chief of staff, or General Mark Milley, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or Mark Esper, his former defense secretary, because you think they are disgruntled, then at least heed the words of Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence.
For four years, Pence was loyal to Trump to a fault. But on January 6th, the mob that stormed the Capitol went after him because he wouldn’t violate his oath of office to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Pence wouldn’t overturn the results of the election.
On January 6th, Mike Pence stood tall and stood up for US democracy and the American electoral system. He stood up to Donald Trump.
When asked if Donald Trump should be president again, Pence said, “I believe anyone that puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States and anyone who asked someone else to put them over the Constitution should never be president of the United States again.”
So, if you have forgotten January 6th and all it represented, in my mind, a vote for Donald Trump boils down to three issues:
A harder to breach southern border.
The social dangers of a progressive Harris presidency.
Republican support for Israel.
Okay, I get it. You’re not “garbage”.
If you have voted or will vote for either of them, may the force be with you and with all of us.
But allow me to offer two alternatives.
If you vote in a heavily blue or red state, you can choose not to vote.
That choice is only cool in those heavily partisan states because your vote won’t count anyway under the electoral college system. The results in those states are already a foregone conclusion.
Is that a copout? No.
Our two party system has handed us two very flawed candidates and a voter has every right to reject them.
You have to live with yourself for four years of a Trump presidency and at least four years of a Harris presidency.
So, a second choice would be to write in a person other than Trump or Harris.
You could write in Democratic governors Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania or Andy Beshear of Kentucky. You could vote for Republican Nikki Haley of North Carolina or Ron DeSantis of Florida.
I live in a heavily blue state but I didn’t opt for not voting. I wrote in a candidate who I thought would have made a really good president.
I keep my votes private, but now you have a 25% chance of guessing correctly.
Many of you have asked me who I think is going to win. The polls indicate it’s going to be a very tight race. I think it depends on who is most organized to be able to turn out the most voters. That’s where the Democrats have the advantage. But I’ve spoken with more than a few Dems who will vote this time for Trump. So who knows?
One thing is for sure. Whoever wins, we will be in for a chaotic four years. Incompetency vs insanity. Harris vs. Trump. What a choice. What a sad choice. Not only for America, but for the world.