Opinion: To Progressives Who Are Not Supporting Kamala
Breakneck Pond in Harriman State Park, Ramapo, NY. Photo: Russ Vernon-Jones
Love, Justice and Climate Change
Millions of people in the U.S. are ready to vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. They are pleased that we have an opportunity to elect a woman president. They see Kamala’s policies on climate, democracy, social policies as vastly preferable to Trump’s. They are very pleased that we have a viable alternative to the nightmare that would result from having Trump become president a second time. Many are working hard to get Kamala elected. They value Kamala’s commitment to bringing people together and the joy and caring she communicates.
Other voters, including a number of progressives, are having trouble getting behind Kamala. They are deeply upset by her support of President Biden’s policy of continuing to provide arms to Israel while the Israeli army is brutally killing Palestinians and now other Arabs. Some see it as unforgivable that she didn’t invite a Palestinian speaker to address the Democratic National Convention. Others feel betrayed by her withdrawing her previous support for banning fracking, and failure to prioritize climate action.
Voting with Integrity
I empathize with those who don’t want to vote for someone who holds some positions that they strongly disagree with. I understand the desire to vote with integrity. I get it that they might feel “tainted” or compromised by voting for a candidate who has taken what they see as unforgivable positions.
In general, I don’t want this to be a blog about politics. For the most part I want to find common ground with as many people as possible who care about the climate and help us together build a movement for climate justice. If we were in-person with each other, I’d want to listen for a long time to the views of those progressives who aren’t supporting Kamala and try to get a deep understanding of their positions and how they came to them.
However, writing is how I’m able to reach the vast majority of you so, I’m going to share some perspectives in writing. If you are not a Kamala supporter, I’m addressing you with care and respect and I ask that you consider these views with care and respect as well.
Severity of the Climate Crisis
I believe that climate change is at such a point of crisis, that if we care about life on earth for humans and other species, we dare not risk allowing Donald Trump and his climate destroying policies to take power in the U.S. At this point the only thing that can prevent that is electing Kamala Harris. Because what happens with regard to climate in the next four years will almost certainly affect life on earth for the next thousand years, I think we must do whatever it takes to prevent Donald Trump from becoming president. As we seek to act with integrity, I think our personal purity of action, matters less than the future of humankind.
I want to acknowledge that we are living in a capitalist, oppressive society where tremendous wealth and power are dedicated to preserving the status quo and its deeply unjust distribution of wealth. Until this situation changes neither major political party is ever going to put forth a presidential candidate as progressive, radical, egalitarian, or as committed to promptly solving the climate crisis, as I, and many of us, would want. There are no perfect candidates, nor will there be in the near future.
Choosing Who We Will Organize Against for the Next Four Years
Recently, I’ve heard a perspective that I’m finding helpful: When we vote in elections we are not electing our leaders. We the people must lead. Leadership must come from the powerful people’s movement for justice and climate that we are in the process of creating. When we vote in elections, we are actually choosing our opponents. We are choosing those whom we will pressure and push to do the right thing. It makes sense for us to elect those whom we think we can be most successful in moving to better positions.
I am under no impression that Harris is perfect; but I am not fighting [against] her. I am fighting to move her. I will vote for Harris on November 5, but my vote is not a profession of my love for Harris or my approval. It’s about making a deliberate choice to pick the playing field for the next four years that my generation and I will be forced, one way or another, to organize under.”
-Jasmine Moreno, youth leader at United We Dream Action, writing in Common Dreams
Trump Calls for Jailing Protesters
Given the fact that Trump has consistently called for jailing protesters who support Palestinian rights, and recommended calling out the military against Black Lives Matter protesters, I think it’s clear that we would rather spend the next four years organizing to move Kamala, not Trump.
Trump’s climate policies would spell disaster for the entire world. Carbon Brief has calculated that his announced policies would result in an additional 4 billion tons of emissions generated by the U.S. by 2030. That’s enough to negate–twice over– all of the gains the entire world has made in the last five years by installing solar and wind energy.
The people of the world will suffer if we allow Trump to become president. At this point, working for Kamala Harris to be elected, and voting for her, is the only way to prevent Trump becoming president. I think we owe this to the world, as well as to our nation.
Russ Vernon-Jones was principal of Fort River School 1990-2008 and is currently a member of the Steering Committee of Climate Action Now-Western Massachusetts. He blogs regularly on climate justice at www.russvernonjones.org.
I appreciate Russ’ efforts at peaceful dialogue and, in a perfect world, I would be onboard. The world we live in today is far from perfect and here in the USA it is on the cusp of being subverted by an actual fascist cult. Don’t take my word for it, here are the words of Retired Army Gen. Mark Milley, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the former President and President Joe Biden, who now says Trump is a “total fascist” and “fascist to the core,” according to a forthcoming book by Bob Woodward, the famed Watergate journalist.
My great uncle went to war against fascism during WWII and my father worked in a defense plant; I’m willing to bet many readers here had similar experiences. Our nation was a proud democracy and even though fascism existed (Listen to Rachel Maddow’s Ultra ) it was not popular. Back then it was anti-American to be a fascist. Today? Not so much? It’s a national disgrace. Any progressive who fails to vote for the Harris/Waltz ticket, regardless of the present Administrations blunders, is literally toying with the end to our imperfect democracy. What will their kids & grandkids say if their parents and grandparents allowed such a disaster to take place?? The days of Bush v. Gore are over. November 5th is your last chance to push back on a fascist coup d’état .
While there may be reasons to vote for Harris instead of Trump, calling the present administrations actions “blunders” is quite an understatement.
The Biden – Harris administration is presiding over and supporting a genocide. The Biden -Harris administration broke a railroad strike. The Biden – Harris administration has opened more federal land to gas and oil drilling than any other in American history. And the Biden -Harris administration went back on getting the American People a $15.00 an hour minimum wage after it being one of their main campaign promises.
And I’m not so sure that millions of Americans telling the democratic party that genocide is okay (with their vote) is good for this country.
I believe that words matter, and I wish all of us were more careful/less heated about the words we use.
My vote for Harris is NOT telling anyone that “genocide is OK.” And Biden is NOT “presiding over” a genocide; last I looked Netanyahu is still in charge of his country’s actions. And underplaying conscious policy choices as mere “blunders” pretends that Biden-Harris are not fully responsible for their actions.
After considering all the pros and cons, I choose Harris because her character and policies are on a whole significantly less dangerous than the alternative. It is really that simple.
If the US said to Israel you get no money or weapons starting right now, this war would be over. Netanyahu may be the political leader of Israel but the US is funding and arming this war. Our tax dollars are funding this and all other wars the US conducts. You are right Mr. Civian, a vote for Harris and the democratic party can be made for many reasons, unfortunately at this moment it ALSO condones what the current administration is doing with respect to Israel. The democratic party is just as involved as the republican party with the military industrial complex. War is good for many American corporations.
Hmmmm . . . seems excessively reductionist to argue that a vote for a person running for President is an explicit or implicit endorsement of ALL that person’s priorities and policies. Any regime is a mix of policies and program, some of which one supports and some of which one doesn’t. The same arms used to kill innocents in Gaza are used to defend Israel. I’m sure we have common ground in our criticism of the military/industrial complex and the our American regime’s (both major parties) support for war and conflict. Perhaps taking actions that help elect Trump may help that situation?
I just read a news article about a mayor in Michigan who has endorsed Trump for President in part because the mayor believes US is guilty of helping to kill innocent civilians in Gaza. By your reasoning, that mayor now condones ALL of Trump’s policies?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/26/us/hamtramck-michigan-ghalib-trump.html
The point I was trying to make is that political parties take the votes they get as approval of what they are offering versus the other party. And that the democratic party is just as beholden to corporate donors as the republicans. So most likely, the Trump campaign will tout this Mayor as wonderful. Obviously his constituents feel differently. When politicians and political parties get votes and win elections they will claim in their speeches something like — we have a mandate! I guess I’ve been saying it wrong. What I should say is that the democratic party and the democratic candidates will take the votes they receive as approval of what they are doing. Whatever is going on in the voters’ mind is unknown to them.
Exactly opposite. Most office holders are keenly aware of the myriad issues that are important to their diverse constituencies; what people support and what they oppose. Given the numerous ways those opinions get transmitted to office holders they would have to be dunderheads to assume that if they win an election voters therefore approve of all they are doing. And most of them are not dunderheads 🙂
At the same time you are right that political parties will take an election victory as “approval of what they are offering versus the other party.” Isn’t that what elections are for?
“We don’t have to compare him to the almighty. We just have to compare him to the alternative.”
Bernie addressed this issue well, I thought:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf5MThSniiY
Often voters choose the lesser of two evils. DJT is very evil, more than any leader we have ever had in close to 250 years. For this reason I voted for Harris, but she is not evil. She has two other strikes against her that are serious in this campaign. That’s the racism and misogyny promulgated by many males who feel they are losing power over women among other reasons. Go Kamala!