It is difficult to imagine a worse candidate. than Donald J. Trump for the presidency of the United States in 2024. His record of dishonesty, hypocrisy and greed make him completely unsuitable for office. A second Trump term will erode the rule of law, diminish America's global standing, and deepen racial and cultural divisions. Even if he loses, Trump has shown that coalitions are reaching out and undermining the electoral process with baseless conspiracy theories that prohibit the results.
There are key Republicans – such as former Vice President Dick Cheney – who have refused to support Trump because of the threat he poses. Gen. Mark Milley, Trump's chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called his former boss a “fascist.” The United States was founded against absolute monarchy. The Republican candidate follows the leader he admires most: Russia's autocratic president, Vladimir Putin.
Trump's authoritarianism could destroy American democracy. He has praised and promised forgiveness to those convicted in the January 6 riots. It advocates blurring the lines between vigilantism and bypassing legal norms to use potentially violent methods of repression. Against police and military agents, whether they are Democrats or undocumented immigrants, he considers them enemies.
Her team has tried to distance itself from the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, and its radical proposals – such as mass layoffs of public officials and the erosion of women's rights – are not doing well in polls. But in office, Trump will adopt many of these bigoted, patriarchal and discriminatory practices. projects. Their goal is to overthrow the government to get rich and escape the law. If Republicans were to gain control of the Senate, House and White House, he would interpret it as a mandate to silence his critics and consolidate his authority.
Trump is a transactional and corrupt politician. His followers see this positively. Christian nationalists wanted a totalitarian regime that would enforce religious orders on Americans. Elon Musk wants to design a future without regulatory oversight. Both put self-interest before the American people. Democracy crumbles at first slowly and then suddenly. In office, Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices who blocked attempts to arrest him this summer for trying to overturn the accountable 2020 election: Their immunity gives the president “a king above the law,” in the words of the liberal judge Sonia Sotomayor.
A historic president
Since Kamala Harris stepped into the spotlight Following Joe Biden's departure, his campaign has been a masterclass in political jujitsu, deftly reversing Trump's perceived strengths. The vice president strongly disagreed with Trump's stark narrative of American decline. In their only televised debate, Harris fell into his trap and deftly outmaneuvered Trump, who appeared angry and incoherent. She is confident and poised. He sounds uninhibited.
Trump's agenda threatens to erode voting rights, women's rights, and minority rights, not only reversing decades of social progress, but burying them. Trump was behind the destruction of reproductive rights. The conservative forces around him now aim to impose a national abortion ban if he wins, with serious implications for IVF and birth control. Republicans have been hurt in the polls by being associated with such unpopular policies, a weakness that Harris needs to exploit.
The vice president has emboldened Democrats with passionate media appearances while galvanizing voters. Progressives remain committed to defeating Mr. Trump, they remain committed to freedom and equality. But Harris has disappointed those who have pushed for a position on US complicity in Israeli bombings of civilians in Gaza and Lebanon. Downplaying war crimes, while weapons flow to Israel, has already damaged democratic prospects in key countries like this. Michigan.
In a political system where style often rivals substance, perception matters. While Harris did not make race and gender the centerpiece of her campaign, her victory would be historic: she would be the first woman to serve as president and the first woman of color. Symbolism is important to its foundation. The key sectors that supported his candidacy (young people, women, African Americans and Hispanics) grew cold on Biden. The election is a leap of faith in Harris, who has a sense of possibility for the future, while Trump clings to a reactionary past.
Protect democracy
Despite his criminal conviction And declared a rapist by a judge, Trump is in danger of retiring from the presidency. Many voters still support a man who was the worst American president. But not the majority of American voters. Republicans A skewed electoral system: Democrats have won the popular vote in all but one election since 1992, and have won the Senate's overall popular majority in every six-year cycle since 1996. However, the country has mostly presidents Republicans and the GOP controls the Senate and therefore a Republican-dominated Supreme Court. In a tight race in November, that means Trump doesn't need to win the election — a court case.
Biden has been a transformative political figure, but he has not transformed the country. His goal was to address inequality, poor public services and the climate crisis with a $4 trillion plan funded by taxes on the rich. His goal was to restore his party's political credibility by marrying social liberalism with economic justice. But corporate influence and the slim Democratic majority in the Senate have curtailed his ambitions. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has focused on national security as the United States has experienced a price surge. However, Biden made historic investments in the green economy and reoriented industrial policy to confront China. Harris' plans aim to recover Biden's spirit of rebellion.
The American economy is stronger than it has been in decades, despite Trump and Harris' continued electoral results on economic issues. It reflects decades of neoliberalism. Real wages for blue-collar workers have stagnated since the 1970s and inflation-adjusted home prices have doubled. Polls show that 70% of Americans want significant political and economic reforms, putting Democrats at a disadvantage. Current status.
Political hope fades when we settle for what is instead of fighting for what could be. Harris embodies the belief that it is better to believe in the potential of democracy than to surrender to its shortcomings. The Republican agenda is clear: voter suppression, book bans, and tax cuts for millionaires. Democrats seek universal compromise; The Republican Party supports isolationism. The Biden-Harris administration laid the foundation for a net-zero emissions United States. A Trumpian comeback will undo that. A Harris victory with a Democratic Congress is an opportunity to restore good governance, create good jobs, and lead climate efforts around the planet. Defeating Trump protects democracy from oligarchy and dictatorship. There is a lot at stake in supporting Ms. Harris for president.
