Kamala Harris Is The Decent, Sane, Pro-Democracy Choice For President
By every objective measure, Harris is a better candidate than Trump. Our choice is not only between two vastly different visions for the future but a self-defining choice of who we are as a people.
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As Vice President Kamala Harris stood at the Ellipse and delivered her rousing closing argument of unity, joy, and progress to the American people, she presented a living contrast to the pre-insurrection rally Donald Trump held nearly four years ago.
The last time Trump stood in that same location, he abused the awesome power of the presidency in a way that brought our country’s democracy to the brink of potential collapse. But this time, instead of “Stop The Steal!” signs, Harris supporters waved American flags, USA banners, and signs that proclaimed “Freedom.”
It was a reminder that this election is, once again, the most important of our lifetimes.
The choice we face is not only between two vastly different visions for the future of our country but a self-defining choice of who we are as a people.
Are we a vindictive, hateful, authoritarian country, or are we a forward-looking, joyful, free country? Will we embrace the darker corners of the American psyche and mistakes of our history, or will we learn from our missteps and grow as a people? The two candidates, in fundamental character, policy, and general approach to politics, embody these two choices.
This will come as no surprise to those of you familiar with my work, but I endorse Kamala Harris as the only decent, sane, pro-democracy choice for president. Donald Trump, on the other hand, is so fascist, so corruptly self-centered, so devoid of a moral compass, so overwhelmingly dishonest, so shockingly shameless, so ineptly incapable of growth that he should be nowhere near power ever again.
Trump is, at his core, an abuser - of power, people, systems, and the flaws in the American psyche.
Trump’s poor character would be amplified by a lack of guardrails in a second term. Thousands of civil servants replaced with loyalists. Mass deportations unleashed. Blanket tarrifs. Trump’s authoritarian plans would reshape the federal government into a tool of the far-right, tank the economy, and cause humanitarian devastation.
Electing Kamala Harris, a former prosecutor, the daughter of tenacious immigrants - an Indian mom who was an accomplished biomedical scientist and a Jamaican economist father - would not only be historic, it would be a direct repudiation of everything Donald Trump represents.
By every single objective measure, Kamala Harris is a significantly better candidate than Donald Trump, and it’s not even close. On democracy, character, the economy, immigration, climate, personal freedom, foreign policy, and overall domestic policy, the contrast could not be clearer.
On democracy, Harris will safeguard democratic norms while Trump will twist the federal government into an authoritarian tool of the far-right. Trump, the twice-impeached convicted criminal, has the most overtly authoritarian agenda of any presidential candidate in American history. Trump’s Agenda 47, which aligns directly with Project 2025’s policy playbook, aims to weaken the guardrails that prevented his worst impulse in his first term and seeks to pursue absolute, centralized power.
Donald Trump has explicitly outlined a plan to re-implement his previously attempted Schedule F executive order, which would purge tens of thousands of civil servants and replace them with trained GOP loyalists. He plans to consolidate power in the executive branch by dismantling multiple departments, like the Education Department, and bringing independent agencies, like the FCC and FTC, under direct White House.
Both Project 2025 and Trump’s official agenda also list plans to roll back environmental regulations, weaponize the DOJ against his political opponents, execute mass deportations, build detention camps for migrants, and use the military against civilians - or as Trump calls them “the enemy within,” end federal protections for LGBTQ+ people, push “Christian Nationalist” ideals, and undo all progress made in diversity, equity, and inclusion within the federal government under the guise of religious freedom.
Those who doubt Trump could or would pursue this agenda need to look no further than his character. Is it worth the risk?
On character, Kamala Harris has proven herself to be an honest, earnest, and kind human being. When it comes to Donald Trump’s character, he is amoral with no guiding principles other than self-interest. He is willing to do anything, tell any lie, and go to any extreme in his effort to maintain and pursue power. His total lack of character is the fundamental reason he’s unfit for office.
In his first term, Trump was only prevented from pursuing his full authoritarian agenda by the people around him. But, this time, it would be different. As I said on MSNBC last month, the Supreme Court has empowered Trump with their immunity ruling. And given the fact he’ll be surrounded by loyalists, and the sycophantic nature of the Republican Party, he will have far fewer restraints. Trump has proven that the most important checks on presidential power are the guardrails of the president’s own character. He has none.
On the economy, Harris will build upon America’s historic, post-pandemic economic recovery while Trump’s tariffs and mass deportations will tank the economy - according to countless economists and Elon Musk’s own admission. There’s a reason hundreds of economists have endorsed Harris.
Between the Biden-Harris Administration’s Keynesian-style economic investments and the Fed’s monetary policy, we’ve nailed a historic post-pandemic recovery and stuck the long-sought soft landing. If Donald Trump is elected, he’ll reverse all this progress with blanket tariffs and mass deportations that economists say would balloon inflation and potentially trigger a recession simultaneously.
On the other hand, Harris’s policies like an expanded $6,000 child tax credit, $50,000 tax deduction for start-ups, $25,000 downpayment help for new homeowners, tax cuts for the middle class, and plan to allow medicare to cover the cost of home care will help tens of millions of Americans build more wealth.
On immigration, Harris will pursue common sense measures outlined in the bipartisan border bill Trump sabotaged, while Trump’s cruel, dehumanizing immigration plans will cause an economic and humanitarian crisis.
Trump has explicitly promised to detain and deport tens of millions of immigrants using local police and the National Guard, end temporary protected status for hundreds of thousands of migrants - including Haitian migrants, implement ideological screenings, end birthright citizenship, end student visas for people participating in pro-Palestine protests, and expand on his previous administration’s Mulsim ban. These are the kinds of dehumanizing policies Trump’s dehumanizing rhetoric is seeking to justify.
On personal freedom, Harris has made clear that she will safeguard reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, and the fundamental rights of people to make choices about their own lives. Trump and his allies are anti-abortion, would let states continue to crack down on abortion, and could take executive action to further erode this fundamental right to bodily autonomy - as outlined in Project 2025.
On climate, there is no competition. The Biden-Harris administration delivered the largest climate investment in American history, and Harris will build upon that progress, maintain America’s emission commitments, and keep environmental regulations in place. Trump, on the other hand, will leave the Paris Climate Accord and roll back all of Biden’s environmental regulations, just like he did in his first term.
On foreign policy, Harris promises to shore up our alliances and stand on the side of democracy, while Trump will once again seek to weaken NATO and align himself with the dictators he sees as peers.
When it comes to the Russia-Ukraine war, Harris has made clear she will do everything she can to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty. This is in contrast to Trump’s far-right stance, which has largely abandoned Ukraine in favor of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Israel-Gaza, there has only been so much Harris can say to differentiate herself from President Biden - she is still the Vice President, after all. She can’t publicly diverge too much from Biden’s stance; otherwise, that would undermine America’s ceasefire efforts in the region. However, Harris has made it clear that she will be tougher on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu than Donald Trump and will pursue peace. Meanwhile, Trump is encouraging Netanyahu to stay the course.
On overall domestic policy, I could write an entire piece about how Harris is better than Trump on gun violence prevention, healthcare, and education policy, but you get the picture. I also think it’s important to note that Harris and Trump’s choice of Vice President should also weigh heavily on America’s decision. The extremism of J.D. Vance can’t be overstated.
Kamala Harris is clearly the better candidate. In order to argue Donald Trump is a better candidate, you’d have to give false credence to his disinformation-fueled alternate reality.
Trump can’t win on the issues in our objective reality, so he lies and presents what I call a dystopian authoritarian unreality. He claims that crime is up when it’s down. He says the economy is in shambles when it’s the best in the world and only getting better. He says undocumented immigrants are bringing crime when they actually commit crimes at lower rates than both legal immigrants and native-born citizens. He says the 2020 election was stolen when it wasn’t. That man-made climate change is a hoax when it’s very real. He even spreads depraved lies about disaster relief efforts. He presents a totally fictitious universe where up is down, good is bad, morality is irrelevant, and self-interest reigns supreme.
That is not the reality we live in, and it’s not the reality we want. The truth is, if Trump wins, he will bring about many of the terrible things he falsely claims exist right now.
As Kamala Harris said in her DNC speech, “Donald Trump is an unserious man. But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.”
A Harris-Walz victory would, in one swoop, prevent a fascist from entering office and usher in a new era of hope and progress. It would turn the page to the beginning of a chapter where our politics isn’t defined by vitriol and depravity. There would, of course, still be challenges, but hopefully, this will serve as the final defeat of a man whose corrupt pursuit of power was so desperate and toxic that he nearly brought down American democracy in the process.
I believe the beauty of America is that despite who we were as a country yesterday or even who we are today, we as a people have the power to choose who we will be tomorrow.
On November 5, I hope we choose Kamala Harris, reject Donald Trump, and embrace a new way forward.
