I last voted for a major-party candidate for President of the United States in 2012, when I did so for Mitt Romney. In 2016 and 2020, I could not vote for Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, or Joe Biden, so I voted Libertarian.
But you know what? Even though over the years I have considered Trump unhelpful to pernicious to downright evil, there was a time in the summer of 2016 that I thought I would hold my nose and vote for him. I did not. (It actually doesn’t matter much here in Alabama, which is oxblood red and which Trump won by nearly 30 points in 2016 and 25 in 2020.) But it matters to me to be able to say I never contributed to his election in any way.
And neither will I do so in 2024. I will, however, be going back to a major-party vote, as I intend to vote for Kamala Harris. Though she’s a poor match for some of my positions, there are definitely things I prefer about her. Most notably, I trust her not to try to destroy my transgender daughter—or indeed, LGBTQ+ people in general. I also believe we have a better chance of containing, and hopefully beginning to shrink, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with her as Commander in Chief. And so far, though I haven’t paid close attention, the selection of Tim Walz as her running mate looks like a grand slam.
Honestly, though, I’m also looking forward to a little normal politics, and I think we’ll get it with President Harris. I am considerably fatigued by the rapidly boiling cauldron of conspiracy theories, authoritarian threats, and other assorted weirdness that has been presidential politics for the past ten years. I am hungry for a president who acts and sounds like a president.
I thought we would get a pivot to normalcy with the election of Joe Biden, but that thought was based on a diminished Trump who would eventually fade away. Instead, he never went anywhere. (And that’s just my latest super-accurate Trump prognostication. Ask me sometime about the robust 2020 Republican primary I was sure we’d have.)
However, in 2024, should Harris prevail, I think a diminished Trump is a lot more likely. The destruction he has wrought on the quality of this country’s critical thinking and the civility of its discourse, as well as the divisiveness he has eagerly sown at every turn in the perceived service of his ends, cannot end too soon.
Wow. You voted Romney over Obama. Interesting. I don’t dislike Romney, but Obama is 5e best President in my lifetime and I thought as much in 2012. Before voting for him in2008, I read both of his published books and they showed his intelligence and insight. I always read and study all of the candidates. And I’ve voted Republican as well as Democrat over my lifetime—I was a registered Republican until they let me know I wasn’t welcome in their party. Yet, still I voted for Daddy Bush.
Gut check for you Bo. I would love to know Harris’ policies you find problematic.
And also, a gut check. Would you have supported her before you had skin in the game with your daughter?
Hello Diana! I’m not going to get into specifics of where I differ with Harris for two reasons. One, we do not currently have a robust deficit watch on either side of the aisle, so how she might seek to address any problems that reasonably have a government vs. private sector structure is a bit of a theoretical (and largely moot) discussion. It will remain so until we have either a) better leadership on this front; or b) a resulting economic collapse. Two, I don’t match up with anyone 100%. Do you?
I am confident I would vote for Harris in the 2024 election whether or not I had skin in the game. I am perhaps doing so with a little more gusto because I do. I will probably send her some money, for example.
Now, a gut check for you: while your comment isn’t brazenly hostile, it is a little confrontational, or at least dancing around the edges of such. In this post, I’ve declared that you and I are allies in the 2024 presidential election, have I not? Allies, not soulmates, are what’s required to put her over the finish line–unlikely, awkward, or otherwise. Hold my hand, and I’ll hold yours, and let’s get it done.
It is clear to me by listening to both sides, that the Harris/Walz ticket is the way to go. You have a pair that promotes the welfare of the people in this country, and then you have a couple of weirdos who can only tear people down and fear monger.
I am all in for supporting LBGTQ rights, women’s rights, and supporting the Ukraine. I would love it more than anything not to be embarrassed by my leader’s brash and racist remarks.
Normalcy is the perfect reason to vote for Harris. We can’t agree about everything. That would be boring!
Go Bo Go!!! I’m on the Kamala Train and the ride is feeling exhilarating!
Good for you, Bo! Even the Cheneys recognize what a threat trump is and have declared they’re voting for Harris. And I love Walz, for the record.