Kamala Harris Is the Clear Choice for President
This summer has seen a political season unlike anything in our nation’s history. An assassination attempt on a former president running for a second term. An aging president bowing out of the election weeks before his party’s convention. A vice president giving a zombie campaign a desperately needed adrenaline shot, revitalizing a party and motivating first-time voters and loyalists alike.
This wild turn of events could not come at a more perilous time. Multiple foreign wars threaten our security and risk setting the world further aflame. Soaring interest rates and inflation have made people across the country uneasy. This year is on track to be the hottest on record: Hundreds died in the scorching temperatures, crops withered, sea levels rose, and forests burned.
Yet in this time of true danger, one candidate for president talks only about his own grievances. His party, which could once boast of being a big tent, is now devoted to a toxic cult of personality. The GOP falls in lockstep with Donald Trump. The party refuses to legislate, threatens another government shutdown, and engages in the pettiest of feuds, like its leader. It spiked a bipartisan border bill in obeisance to Trump — continuing the chaos there for his political gain. We live in a two-party system built on compromise. It’s important to the health of the country to have a sane Republican Party to offer a counterpoint, a check and a balance. But Trump is incapable of dealing in good faith or uniting a polarized nation. And the MAGA faithful are willing to blindly follow him to our collective ruin.
Trump is demonstrably unfit to ever hold office again. From Jan. 6 to his lethally incompetent handling of the pandemic, his callous attitude toward the George Floyd protests, and his perilous remaking of the Supreme Court into an arm of the conservative right, Trump has time and again shown us exactly who he is. He lies so often his candidacy would be a joke if it weren’t so dangerous. He will make the plans outlined by right-wing extremists in Project 2025 a reality. He has promised to be a “dictator” for a day. The entire premise of a Trump restoration should chill even the most casual followers of politics to their core. This is not a fire drill. As Sen. Bernie Sanders recently told Rolling Stone, “This election is about whether we remain a democratic society or we move to authoritarianism. Trump does not believe in the basic tenets of American democracy.”
Throughout his career, Trump has stoked racial divisions in this country. He entered politics by spreading birther lies about President Obama, ran a campaign based on the demonization of Latin migrants, and among his first acts as president enacted a so-called Muslim ban. His nakedly racist tactics were there for all to see during his Sept. 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, most notably when he repeated debunked claims about Haitian migrants eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. The reckless and hateful rhetoric led to real-life consequences in and around the city: bomb threats, school closures, and the canceling of a local festival. The needless and staggering stupidity of comments like these have become a given in the Trump era. It needs to stop.
The last decade or so of Trump’s fear-mongering has splintered the nation in ways we have not seen since the turbulence of the 1960s. Harris was correct in calling out his failure as a leader. “It’s a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president who has consistently over the course of his career attempted to use race to divide the American people,” she said in the debate. “I do believe that the vast majority of us know that we have so much more in common than what separates us. And we don’t want this kind of approach that is just constantly trying to divide us, and especially by race.”
A few months ago, before she was the candidate, Harris told Rolling Stone the question of this election is an elemental one: “What kind of country do you want to live in?” Harris highlighted the stakes before us this November, and just how many rights could be stripped away in a second Trump administration, she said: “Any freedom that we have and have fought for, we have to be vigilant in holding onto. They are a function of our collective commitment in a democracy.”
Based on her career and her campaign, it’s clear Harris shares Rolling Stone’s belief that the U.S. should be a nation that leads the world against the threat of the climate crisis. She will fight for reproductive freedom and civil rights. She wants to build more affordable housing, thinks it’s vital we shore up the social safety net, advocates for sensible gun laws, and wants the U.S. to have the finest education system in the world. She will work for peace, even as she secures our national defense. In contrast to her opponent, Harris’ record as a prosecutor, senator, and vice president has shown a politician devoted to the rule of law, democratic norms, and a willingness to work across party lines. She’s not a firebrand or a demagogue; she’s a lifelong, dedicated public servant who believes that government exists to help and protect the American people.
Kamala Harris is the clear choice over Donald Trump. Vote for a future where the carnage of the Trump era is left in the past and America keeps moving forward.
More from Rolling Stone
Best of Rolling Stone
Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.