Q. Who should I vote for?
A. Kamala Harris.
Q. But what about Trump?
A. The guy with 34 felony convictions and several court cases pending?
The guy who says he'll be a dictator on day one? He says only day one. Give some thought to how much you trust his impulse control.
I could go on, but just read some of these other questions and answers. They should make it plain why Harris is the only safe, sane, and moral choice.
Q. OK, so he's pretty evil. But I'm willing to put on my blinders because he's quite a business man, am I right? He'll make our economy successful, right?
A. Rachel Maddow spent a segment calling his bluff on all of this. This shouldn't be a great surprise. Trump was convicted in of fraud in New York civil court, and ordered to pay $355 million dollars. It is not a stretch to think he might commit fraud in other situations. Trump's niece, Mary Trump, has a lot to say about his lying.
Q. But hasn't Biden just weaponized the Justice Department? Those aren't real charges are they? Surely they're partisan fictions.
A. No. Biden hasn't done any such thing. In fact, it's the other way around. We're finding more and more evidence that weaponizing the Department of Justice (DOJ) is something Trump sought to do as President. He was held back by others in the government who told him he couldn't. Such restraint is unlikely to happen again because he'll pick yes men to advise him this time around.
Also, Trump is promising to prosecute his political rivals. That isn't how we've traditionally done politics in the US. The whole point of “free speech” is the free exchange of ideas. He wants to end that. He doesn't like dissent. It could get very ugly.
Q. Trump says he'll protect American business by adding big tariffs other countries have to pay. Isn't that good?
A. In a word? No. Trump can't make other countries pay anything. He can make you pay to receive things from other countries. Economists estimate this will cost the average household an extra $4000 a year. Harris is calling it a Trump “sales tax,” which is what it will feel like.
Also, it's been widely reported that businesses are readying to raise prices in anticipation of Trump's tariffs.
Q. But isn't Trump a business guy? He says he'll hire “only the best people”.
A. Many of those same people warn strongly against electing him.
Q. This is upsetting. If that's true, what about his January 6 “lovefest”? Surely you're not saying that was a fiction.
A. Several people lost their lives at Trump's so-called “lovefest” that day. Pence barely made it to safety as crowds chanted “Hang Mike Pence”. The House investigated and confirmed the seriousness of these actions, calling Republican witnesses, many of them Trump staffers, to build their case.
Q. Trump says he'll be a protector of women—
A. Oh, just stop. I know you didn't even get all the way through your question, but, please, just stop. No. He will not. Neither will Vance.
The Washington Post counted his false and misleading statements over a four-year period. They tallied 30,573. You can't trust his promises. He knows they are not legally binding.
But he also appointed Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade and bragged about it. During the 2016 campaign period, MSNBC's Chris Matthews got Trump to say “there has to be some form of punishment” for a woman getting an abortion.
And if you haven't read Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel The Handmaid's Tale, might I suggest you do? It just might turn out to be a useful reference.
Q. My husband tells me I should vote like he does. Is that true?
A. No. We vote privately in the US. At least we do now, under democracy. Who knows what will happen if Trump gains control. He'll probably appoint still more Supreme Court justices. The ones he already appointed have suggested they may want to roll back women's right to vote.
Q. I hate all of this. What if I just “send a message” by staying home?
A. Sitting it out does not send the message “I want another choice.” It sends the message “I'm equally happy with either of these choices.” Read the rest of this FAQ and then get yourself to the polls. You'll be glad you did.
Q. I'm mad about Harris's Climate policies. Can I “send a message” by voting for Jill Stein?
A. Only Trump or Harris will be elected. Stein doesn't have any hope at all of being elected. So the message you send will be at a steep price because Harris has by far a more Climate-friendly record and platform than Trump. Trump does not think that “science knows” if Climate Change is real. (Spoiler Warning: Science knows.)
Voting for Stein does not send the message “I want another choice,” but instead sends the message “I'm equally happy with either of these choices.” There are better times and ways to protest Climate policy.
The world will be very different under these two candidates.
If you care about those differences, you need to vote.
There is good reason to think that protest votes for Jill Stein may have tipped the 2016 election to Trump. If you care about Climate and would be otherwise voting for Harris, there are other ways to protest than to throw the election to Trump.
Q. But what about the Gaza genocide? Biden and Harris are still sending munitions.
A. This is a real concern, but boycotting the election is the wrong way to solve it. Whatever you think of Biden and Harris on Gaza policy, Trump is much worse. He wants to be best friends with Netanyahu, in part because both of them see it important to stay in power to avoid prison.
My advice? Find another way to protest. But believe me, you want to be protesting under Harris, who thinks that's a normal thing to do. Trump wanted to shoot at protesters. He does not like dissent, and especially when it's by or about people of color.
Q. But, but—the border. And all those migrants.
A. The border issue is a real issue, but very complicated. In collaboration with the Biden/Harris administration, Republican conservatives drafted a somewhat harsh policy that nevertheless had bipartisan support and by all accounts would have passed. But Trump asked Republicans to kill it because it doesn't matter to him to have that problem solved. He just wanted something to whine about, and to blame on Biden. Republicans did kill it, and Trump's the one that deserves the blame, not Biden.
Q. But shouldn't I worry that Trump often says Harris is “low IQ”?
A. I'm going to bite my tongue and not ask if you seriously think Trump is “high IQ.” Let's instead just jump straight to the heart of the matter: Calling someone “low IQ” is just a pattern behavior he has for how to talk about people who are black or female. He obviously hopes that, through force of repetition, you'll eventually associate certain attributes with certain people or certain demographics. Of course, he offers no evidence. And anyway, polls suggest she unambiguously beat him at the debate.
Q. It's only for four years, though, right?
A. That's how it used to be. But staying in office keeps him out of prison.. Liz Cheney has credibly suggested that if Trump is given power again, he will not yield it voluntarily.
Q. Maybe Vance will take over. That will fix things, right? He seems more sane.
A. Vance seems comfortable with the US following Rome's pattern, turning from a Republic to an Empire (in effect, giving up our democracy for a dictatorship). He appears to see Project 2025 as the implementation mechanism.
Q. Is there a place I can learn more about Project 2025? Are you sure it's associated with Trump?
A. Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025 because he knows it's a source of concern. However, many connections between Trump, Vance and Project 2025 have been documented.
There are several places you might want to consider to find out about Project 2025:
- Democracy Forward has created a user-friendly way to browse its serious dangers: The People's Guide to Project 2025.
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A band of graphic artists—some named, some anonymous—has brilliantly put the issue into graphic novel (comic book) form. This is a “must see.”
- The Center for American Progress (CAP) offers a useful explainer piece, The Dangers of Project 2025: Global Lessons in Authoritarianism, that puts Project 2025 into perpective by showing how it will “threaten American democracy by mirroring authoritarian tactics seen in Hungary, Turkey, and beyond.”
- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has an article, Project 2025, Explained, that summarizes what they see as key dangers in Project 2025, and what Trump's connection is to it.
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Project 2025 has its own web page. It's very detailed. 900+ pages. It's highly specific about the speed and scope of what it plans. The goals it sets are scary enough, but the highly undemocratic ways in which it proposes achieving those goals is scary in its own right.
Q. This FAQ by Kent Pitman was kind of fun. Is there more stuff by Kent that I can read?
A. So glad you enjoyed it. Yes, here are some election-related writings by Kent:
- Common Ground on Reproductive Health (on Liz Cheney's fresh outlook)
- Emperor's Wardrobe Day (about those who've been silent)
- The Fraud Who Stole Freedom (an epic poem, with audio)
- Vance Notice (about the danger Vance poses)
- Political Terraforming (why they're limiting rights)
- A to-do list for repairing US democracy (some helpful suggestions)
- American Dictatorship (thoughts on a possible loss of democracy)
- The Pace of Political Evil (what we come to see is normal)
- Conspiring to Contest Key Elections (it won't just be about votes)
- Stayers and Steppers (my advice to Biden to step back, let Harris run)
- Supreme Challenge (urging Biden to use power SCOTUS gave him)
Don't forget to check for other posts that may follow the post you're reading.