In describing my impetus for writing, I cited the waning support for liberal institutions prevalent in our current political environment. While the systems underpinning our democracy are far from perfect - as a member of a third party I have often criticized the not-particularly-representative manner in which we elect representatives - they are, put simply, good. On their worst day, with the flaws in our liberal democracy at their height, they are easily preferable to the alternative favored, apparently, by approximately half of the electorate.
Donald Trump has made the destruction of our foundations of liberal democracy a key tenet of his campaign. He has regularly promised the prosecution of his political enemies should he win, not for any crime against the law but as mere retribution for disloyalty. He has vowed to squash the First Amendment - perhaps the most critical of them all as it protects what I have argued is our most foundational right, that of free speech. He regularly threatens media institutions, vowing to ban the operations of unfriendly television and journalistic outlets. His running mate, JD Vance, requested that the Departments of Justice and State investigate Robert Kagan, a senior fellow at the think-tank Brookings Institution and editor at large at the Washington Post, for penning an opinion piece criticizing Trump. After himself being shot at a campaign rally, Trump said he doesn't mind if the same should happen to journalists. He has promised repeatedly to pardon members of the January 6th coup attempt, just one of the many measures in his attempts to undermine or overturn a democratic election. In perhaps one of his most brazen threats, the ex-president even claimed that he might terminate the Constitution. That pronouncement is in keeping with his insinuations that he will toss out the founding document and become a dictator "on day one," and that, should he win again in 2024, he will "fix" the election so that his supporters won't have to vote again. Most recently, Trump has expressed regret at ever leaving the White House, stating that he shouldn't have left after losing.
There are a myriad of things that make the United States of America great. Most of those either stem from or are enabled by the foundational notions of free speech, democratic elections, equal protection under the law, and limited government authority over the lives of individuals. Donald Trump has repeatedly made it clear that these bedrock ideas are anathema to his vision for America under a second Trump presidency, and he has promised to deliver us from what has made this such a great country.
There are no shortage of terrible ideas emanating from the Kamala Harris campaign, nor any difficulty had in citing them from her tenure in multiple positions. This election year, like so many others, is one in which I find little to agree with in the better of he two major candidates. In most other years this has - and almost certainly will again in the future - led me to cast my ballot for a third party candidate with whom I share a great deal ideologically. But this year genuinely is different. Many have labeled previous elections "the most important in history," a descriptor that has heretofore held no sway to my ears. In 2024, the boy crying wolf is telling the truth.
America can survive higher taxes, more spending, and more government bureaucracy, at least for four more years. What we cannot risk is an end to the American experiment in the name Donald Trump. For that reason, I will be voting for Kamala Harris, and hoping to see her victory on election night.