Harris - For Democracy and Humanity
A message to troubled conservatives and outraged liberals
If you’re a Republican or conservative Independent who is troubled by Donald Trump but having difficulty voting for Kamala Harris (and hasn’t voted yet), please listen to the long list of other conservatives urging you to do just that. They have made the case that Democracy trumps policy and ideology - Democracy trumps Trump.
Note Republican political strategist Stuart Stevens’s tweet below, sent in reaction to Trump’s remarks that Liz Cheney be placed in the line of fire - “… let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK?”:
Liz Cheney herself tweeted in response to Trump’s remarks:
This is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten those who speak against them with death. We cannot entrust our country and our freedom to a petty, vindictive, cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant.
In August, Ruth Ben-Ghiat wrote about “Republicans for Harris” as an effective pro-Democracy strategy. She stated:
Republicans for Harris is a great pro-democracy move because it builds on a proven democracy-promoting strategy: bridge-building, or the creation of spaces and occasions that bring people of opposing political beliefs into contact so they may exchange views and find common goals to pursue. Classic bridge-building initiatives do not aim to convert one group to the beliefs of the other: they aim to "depolarize," leading both groups to greater dialogue and understanding.
In this spirit, Republicans for Harris is not asking Republicans to become Democrats; it is asking them to vote Democrat while retaining their beliefs. It is organizing Republicans to listen to trusted former GOP voices and to Democrats on why this course of action is the best option for America at this time.
There’s a very long list of Republicans and independent conservatives stepping up for Harris, many who worked with Trump during his last administration and know him only too well. Dr. Ben-Ghiat points out that “… over 1,000 national security leaders—including 10 Cabinet and 11 Service Secretaries, 253 retired Admirals & Generals, 49 Senior Enlisted, and 164 Ambassadors [placed country over party and] signed a letter endorsing Harris.”
[Liberals reading this who themselves are troubled, or even outraged, by the Harris campaign’s outreach to Republicans and conservative Independents, take Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s words to heart. Exchanging views, finding common goals, and generally adding variation to the pool of ideas that solutions and policies are derived from can often result in something even better. There’s science behind that.]
Troubled conservatives, you have been given permission by some very conservative individuals to vote for Harris, as well as urge other Republicans and conservatives to do so. You’re not giving up your beliefs, you’re simply placing country over party to save our Democracy.
If you’re a liberal who is outraged by the current administration’s effectively tacit support of the devastation and deaths in Gaza, the U.S.’s surge in oil and gas production (despite also doing more to address climate change than any other previous administration), the glacial pace of addressing institutional racism, or any other issue, to the point of sitting out or supporting a third party candidate, please listen to some fellow liberals and Democrats urging you not to do so.
Bernie Sanders, senator from Vermont, acknowledging the devastation in Gaza and his own efforts to “block US military aid and offensive weapons sales” to Israel, made the case for supporting Harris to liberals outraged by our tepid response to, and enabling of, Israel’s actions in Gaza:
But even more importantly, and this I promise you, after Harris wins we will, together, do everything we can to change US policy toward Netanyahu – including an immediate ceasefire, the return of all hostages, a surge of massive humanitarian aid, the stopping of settler attacks on the West Bank, and the rebuilding of Gaza for the Palestinian people.
And let me be clear. We will have, in my view, a much better chance of changing US policy with Harris than with Trump, who is extremely close to Netanyahu and sees him as a like-minded, rightwing extremist ally.
But let me also say this, and I deal with this every single day as a US senator. As important as Gaza is, and as strongly as many of us feel about this issue, it is not the only issue at stake in this election.
Far from it. There are so many other important issues on the line. Sanders’s message also aligns with former first lady Michelle Obama’s warning not to sit out or cast protest votes over this or other issues. She recently stated at a Harris rally in Michigan:
Now I recognize that there are a lot of angry disillusioned people out there upset with the slow pace of change. And I get it. It is reasonable to be frustrated. We all know we have a lot more work to do in this country. But to anyone out there thinking about sitting out this election or voting for Donald Trump or a third party candidate in protest because you’re fed up, let me warn you, your rage does not exist in a vacuum. If we don’t get this election right, your wife, your daughter, your mother, we as women will become collateral damage to your rage.
Her speech is below and these particular remarks occur around the 34:15 mark, but I recommend watching the whole thing.
Other collateral damage beyond women’s rights and women’s health care will include our ability to address the climate crisis and the wealth gap, address the mental and physical health of trans kids, protect public education, enact humane immigration reform, enact common sense gun laws, tackle institutional racism, and the list stretches long.
[Troubled conservatives reading this still really hung up on the policy part, remember what Liz Cheney said: “As frustrated as I know people get sometimes with policy disagreements you might have — and I certainly have policy disagreements with the Biden administration — I know the nation can survive bad policy. We can’t survive a president who is willing to torch the Constitution.”]
And outraged liberals, if you’re thinking a protest vote won’t actually sway the election to Trump, remember that in the U.S., without rank choice voting and with our infuriating Electoral College, evidence suggests that third party candidates can and do function as a spoiler. Not only that, in multiple elections where they appeared to have an impact, they “… tilted the ultimate outcome in ways that were almost always inimical to their traditional political positions.” In elections where third party candidates act as spoilers then, you’re vote ultimately contributes to policies, decisions, and other actions you don’t actually want.
So your rage may be justified, but a Harris administration is our only shot at actually addressing the issues. A Trump administration will just make them worse, torching the constitution and our democracy in the process.