An Independent Voter's Endorsement for Kamala Harris
I debated extensively with myself about whether to publish this. After all, who really cares what I have to say about politics?
I realize that at this point, this post will make little difference in anyone’s opinion. Some will read and nod vigorously in agreement. Others will vehemently disagree throughout.
But after much internal deliberation, I decided to play my role in the democratic process by speaking my opinion. Thank you to Sarah Longwell — who has become one of my favorite common-sense Twitter follows over the past six months — for her Friday post that ultimately encouraged me to get over my anxieties about publishing my writing and to share my perspective on the upcoming US Presidential election.
Before I get into my arguments, I’d like to share the following two points to provide you with better context throughout:
I don’t believe that electing either candidate will result in the “end of America.” Many people on both sides of the aisle probably feel otherwise, but let me ease your concerns. The United States will be fine, regardless of who wins the election on November 5. Yes, there will be different political fights (there always are). There may be unrest that follows (it has happened repeatedly throughout US history). But if we could look through a portal of time to see what life will be like in October 2028, I am confident that there will be the same political drama concentrated within the 6-8 swing states that will ultimately decide the outcome, regardless of who wins the 2024 presidential election.
I am not registered as a Republican or a Democrat. I’m not a member of the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, or any of the other political parties that exist. I’m an independent voter with my own complex set of views. I (think that I) have a common-sense, moderate point of view on most positions. I try to be forward-looking but pragmatic. I’m also sure are probably multiple issues of which I agree with each party’s public stance.
I hope that those with different points of view will consider my points with an open mind before closing their browser window or unsubscribing from my mailing list. I believe that we can have differing opinions and still engage with each other honestly and with decency.
With that background out of the way, I believe that the decision about who to support in this upcoming election is perhaps the easiest one we’ve faced in the 248-year history of our country.
We should elect Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States.
There is no shortage of challenging problems that our governmental leaders need to address. We need a president who can navigate our country forward to maintain our position as the global leader in a world that is rapidly changing.
I strive to be an informed voter and educate myself about the issues — at least the ones that are important to me and my family. That means understanding what each party says they are going to do before making an educated opinion about the quality of their vision, their plan for accomplishing it, and the downstream implications if it becomes reality.
From a frequency perspective, most of the information that we are exposed to comes in the form of television, mail, and digital advertisements. These are marketing messages that are meant to influence. They are not meant to inform. If you’ve watched a college football game in the recent weeks, you have likely seen a significant number of biased commercials with content that borders on parody — way more if you happen to live in a swing state. One of the only positives of Michigan football having a down year is that I can turn the television off more and skip the onslaught of ads this fall.
Instead, I think that it’s far better to learn about the parties by starting with their own websites to read their policies in their own words. Both the Democratic and the Republican parties share their public positions on their respective websites. While parts of their proposals are unrealistic as compared to what could realistically get accomplished through negotiation and compromise, the parties’ platforms nonetheless represent the issues each prioritizes and a vision for how they would attempt to solve them.
The Democratic Party Platform outlines a plan to continue the growth of America through investments that will continue the development of our country’s infrastructure, invest in growing economic sectors, rebuild the middle class, and lower everyday costs for individuals. I disagree with parts of their plan. It’s ridiculous to me that the country’s debt and its rate of growth is not mentioned as a priority. But, the entire platform presents a positive future vision for the country and a strategic roadmap as to how it could be achieved.
The Republican party once had positive visions that were argued on the same plane of debate with the Democrats’ ones. Republicans were the party of lower taxes, smaller government, and less regulation. Some of the policies they pushed weren’t effective — I think that trickle-down economic policies from the Reagan years were incredibly harmful in the short- and long-term, and have contributed significantly towards the large deficits that we see today. But at least the party pursued and agenda with policies that were developed with a positive vision of America in mind.
That party is gone. Since Trump took control of the Republican party 8 years ago, it has changed on many of its positions significantly. It is unrecognizable — not even in the same ballpark — when compared to what it was during the Reagan years.
The current Republican Party Platform is extreme and angry. It’s divisive and full of hatred. Their policies lack vision, are poorly conceived, and are inconsistent. Overall, the Republican viewpoints are not representative of a community, a country, or a world that I want to live in.
Many of the party’s specific policies are rooted in hate and would be detrimental to our country’s progress. Take the 2nd item from its platform as an example. Republicans want to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants through the “largest deportation operation in American history”. The American Immigration Council estimates that this operation would be expensive (it would cost $300B) and devastating to an economy in which the immigrants are embedded (the GDP would fall between 4.2% and 6.8%). Even if you believe that the presence of undocumented immigrants in our country is a major priority, would it be worth increasing our debt and sending us into a recession to achieve this goal?
There are no more policy leaders within the party. Trump has forced all of them out — all “RINOs.” Instead, what remains to populate roles in the party are untalented lackeys and unprincipled grifters. While Trump publicly denies association with Project 2025, it is hard to imagine that many of those associated with it don’t end up with key roles within a Trump administration, ready to implement extreme policies. That agenda is not the right direction for us to go as a nation.
While the candidates have argued over many issues, not all will be important to everyone. Each voter has a different set of priorities.
Marcus Aurelius once said “You always own the option of having no opinion.” This quote has resonated more clearly over the last few months. It is exhausting to attempt to have an informed perspective about everything. There’s just too much knowledge to keep up with.
As a result, I prioritize the things that I care about and acknowledge my lack of an opinion on the issues that don’t impact me.
Below is a non-exhaustive sampling of issues that I find important, listed in no particular order. For each, I’ll briefly share my perspective, and why I believe that Harris is better than Trump for each.
Tackling Our Country’s Debt Through Responsible & Realistic Approaches
We have been kicking this can down the road. Neither party seems to prioritize this — it is not mentioned within either platform. But we need to acknowledge that we are racking up debt at an unsustainable rate and will need to do something to reverse course. I’ve seen this graph before — the rate of growth of the debt is increasing and is about to turn vertical. This trend will be incredibly challenging to reverse and will require well-designed policy solutions implemented over time.
Trump wants Elon Musk to cut $2T from the national budget, presumably from Social Security or Medicare (Sorry, you’re out of luck with your retirement subsidies, Mom and Dad!), while still giving an even larger tax cut to wealthy individuals and employing ineffective tariffs which are ultimately paid for by US consumers. Drastic measures like that will crash the economy and ultimately have a detrimental impact on the debt. You can’t create the necessary budget surplus to reduce our debt if the unemployment rate skyrockets and tax revenues decrease.
Democrats tend to become ambitious with the programs they propose. Many of the party’s recent proposals at least try to not to add to the deficit. The Democrats generally try to pay for their proposals through tax increases targeted at the wealthy. They also take seriously the independent CBO analyses and design their policies accordingly. While the overall debt continues to increase, Biden has decreased the deficit after 2020-2021 spending during COVID.
Democrats don’t have great answers on this issue, but Republican approaches would exasperate the problem.
Navigating Technological Change into the Future
The world is changing faster than many of us realize or would like to admit. Change happens slowly and then all of a sudden.
Our future will be dominated by AI and tech. The scale of investments into GPUs for AI development is massive. We are not far from a world where we are surrounded by intelligent technology that can do most tasks as well as or better than most humans. With AI, the human race will be able to accelerate our technological advancement. America should ensure that these advancements continue to happen in our country.
Speaker Johnson recently said that he would repeal the CHIPS act before walking it back. This bipartisan law contains significant investments into the semiconductor industry. Wining in this space is critical for America to maintain its technological advantage over foreign adversaries. I’m confident that Harris would continue to encourage our growth. Trump would be a major wild card. A major priority seems to be to repeal anything done during Obama or Biden years (Trump still wants to repeal Obamacare). I don’t trust that he’d keep this law, despite how popular and impactful it is.
Science
Climate change exists. Humans have been warming the planet through its growth and technological expansion. Warmer global temperatures leads to more extreme weather. Through smart policy changes, however, we can work to combat this problem.
Vaccines are good. They reduce the spread of harmful diseases that can be prevented. Over 150M lives have been saved over the past 50 years because of vaccines. Some terrible diseases, like polio or measles, have been virtually wiped off the earth because of vaccines. One of the reasons our country was able to start to recover from COVID was the vaccination of a large portion of the country.
I could continue to give examples here, but to summarize, science helps us to solve problems that better human lives. The scientists that help to advance their fields devote their lives to studying the world and finding answers. Through their work, we’ve taken incredible steps on the path of human advancement. I think that we should listen to the scientists and their advice on these and many other subjects.
Trump is anti-science. He denies the work of climate scientists. I’m baffled by his stance on vaccines. Fast-tracking the development of the COVID vaccine in his first term was one of the few positive things that came out of his administration. But now, he seems to align with RFK Jr., who wants to reduce or eliminate vaccines from the market.
I have only listed two issues with nearly universal agreement from the worlds best scientists where Trump has ignored the advice of the smartest people in the world. There are plenty more examples of him rebuking scientific experts for his own uneducated opinion. I am confident that Harris would listen to scientists, her advisors, and other experts when making decisions.
Women’s Rights
I have two young daughters. They are the reason I get up in the morning and try so hard every day. They are my purpose. They are my “why”.
If you are a parent, you can understand this mindset. We all want to see our children succeed.
I can’t pretend to know what it’s like to be a woman. But I can support my daughters and their rights unconditionally. I want them to have the ability to make their own decisions in their life with every opportunity to succeed that I did. I generally believe that the government should not be making decisions that infringe on any individual’s rights to live.
Trump’s policies actively involve the government in women’s personal decisions. His proposals are regressive towards my daughters’ freedoms. Trump has campaigned on overturning Roe vs Wade. This is having terrible consequences throughout the country, leading to negative economic impacts. Harris will work to preserve women’s rights. She’s the obvious choice for my daughters’ best interests.
Democracy
I kind of like democracy.
It’s the time where we can hold our leaders accountable. By voting for who we would like to represent us, we influence leaders to act in our best interests (or at least convince us that they will). We can evaluate leaders based on their track records, their ideas, how they’d govern, and their visions for the future.
Winston Churchill one said, “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” It’s true. Democracy can be frustrating. It’s a constant struggle to reach agreement. However, the alternative forms of government that have been tried throughout history are worse.
Donald Trump does not respect democracy. January 6th was one of the darkest days in our country’s history. Despite knowing that he lost, Trump encouraged an angry mob to storm the capitol to disrupt an official government proceeding to certify the election. He incited an insurrection with the goal of preventing a peaceful transfer of power. He lost the election, but his ego couldn’t handle it.
He’s already doing it again, by the way. I assume that Trump is seeing internal polls that show that he might not win, so he’s already starting to seed doubt about the results. It’s part of the playbook. He’ll declare victory on November 5, regardless of what happens, ready to stir up unrest from his supporters.
Donald Trump wants there to be another January 6th. He doesn’t want democracy. He doesn’t care about America. He’ll burn it to the ground to stay in power.
There are many other issues that are important. I have opinions on some and am indifferent on others. But let’s just pretend I agreed with Trump on every single issue on my policy list.
Despite that, I would still vote for virtually any other person running because I believe that his ethics, morality, and character are nonexistent. He is completely unfit for the role of President of the United States, and it’s a warning for our country that this is even for debate.
Donald Trump has never been fit for the job. His entire political career should have ended long ago. Zack Bornstein perfectly encapsulates my perspective on this with a tweet from last week.
Trump was insane from the beginning. I know we’ve all memory-holed the 2016 election, but Trump did or said disqualifying thing after disqualifying thing throughout. What was different from what he had seen previously was that Trump was not politically harmed by his abhorrent behavior.
Trump was unique because he has zero shame, he floods the zone with misleading or wrong information, and his ego can never admit that he is wrong. His rhetoric, actions, and lies were far beyond what we had previously faced, and none of us were equipped to combat it.
Plenty of Republicans that saw this early. But Trump wore them down. One-by-one, many Republicans compromised their principles and began to fall in line, ignoring or whitewashing his glaring deficiencies.
Trump wore everyone down. The media. Democrats. Everyone. It has come to a point where he is graded on a different curve than any of his opponents. We judge Kamala Harris on the specifics of her policy proposals while glossing over when Trump yearned for having the generals that Hitler had.
Those of us who see him for who he is have assumed that people will eventually wise up to how terrible of a person that he is. But we have a lot of evidence that to many of his supporters, there is nothing that change their opinion of him, which is concerning.
John Kelly is Donald Trump’s former Chief of Staff and a retired Marine general with 30 years of military experience. He is a man who knows more about loyalty, honor, and living by a code than most of us ever will. He recently said on the record that Trump was a fascist and would rule like a dictator…and it made no impact in the polls.
Above all else, the President of the United States must be a leader with good character, a strong moral compass, and a respect for their role as the leader of our government. The president must make decisions that have the best interests of all 330 million people at heart.
Donald Trump does not understand any of this. He doesn’t care about all Americans. He doesn’t even care about his own supporters. The only thing Donald Trump cares about is himself.
Listen to all of his public appearances. Read the transcripts of his rallies or press conferences. Everything is about him. How everything and everyone is unfair to him. How wonderful and great he is. How he successful at everything.
Nothing is based in fact — anything he says is a jumbled set of words that make zero logical sense. Because we’ve already become so exhausted with him, nothing he says ever matters or breaks through.
Well, I do pay attention to the things he says because words matter. And after the past 8 years, I have a pretty good idea about his character.
Donald Trump is an entitled brat who has been given everything in life. He bullies people to get what he wants. He breaks laws to further enrich himself. And he whines about mistreatment and his misfortune when anyone confronts him.
Donald Trump is a con-man. Everything is a grift. Much as been written about Trump’s failed or fraudulent businesses. While he is currently running to regain the presidency, he is selling $60 bibles, $10,000 Swiss watches (that are apparently made in Wyoming, not Switzerland), and $300 sneakers. He scams his supporters through devious donation tactics and has turned the entire Republican party apparatus into his own legal fund and personal piggy bank. Jimmy Carter once sold his peanut farm to reduce conflicts of interest before assuming the office of the Presidency. Trump is a walking conflict of interest, the likes of which we’ve never seen. Does anyone believe that he couldn’t be influenced in his role as the President with all of these financial stakes? I sure don’t.
Donald Trump is out for grievances. He’s obsessed with revenge. He’s threatened violence on multiple occasions. Just this past weekend, he suggested that Liz Cheney face a firing squad. He almost certainly would wield the power of the presidency to get retribution against his political opponents if reelected.
Donald Trump doesn’t understand loyalty and being an ally. He has shown that he’ll throw his closest, most loyal supporters under the bus. His own Vice President was several feet from a mob of angry, violent rioters that wanted to kill him, and Trump was indifferent. How on earth is that okay behavior from our Commander and Chief?
Donald Trump is a liar. He lies so much that it’s impossible to fact check him. There’s little truth in many of the things that he says. We are lost as a society if we can’t trust the words coming out of our elected leader’s mouth.
Most of all, Donald Trump is not a leader. In fact, he’s the complete antithesis of everything that we’d want in one.
A true leader inspires others and engages with different viewpoints to solve problems. Donald Trump divides the country, calling people that oppose him enemies.
A true leader has a tree of individuals from current and past working relationships that treasured working with them. 40 of 44 of Donald Trump’s self-appointed first-term cabinet members have not endorsed him for President.
A true leader lives according to a set of principles and is virtuous. Donald Trump only acts in his own best interests.
Donald Trump is a narcissistic, sociopath that needs serious help. Not someone with the ethics and character required for any position of power, let alone the the United States presidency. I hope, for the direction of the country, that he loses on Tuesday.
If America does come together to defeat Donald Trump this week, I hope that Republican party can find its way afterwards. I hope to not see violence and unrest in the country. But instead, that the party goes through some serious self-reflection and started offering a positive vision.
Our country is better with two strong parties that can argue about policy and have honest debates. That’s going to require conservatives in the mold of Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger to take control of its future direction. Not the culture warriors like JD Vance or Ted Cruz. I am skeptical of that happening anytime soon, but one can hope.
We are on the precipice of some major societal changes. We’re going to have some hard problems to solve and need to work together as a country to do that. We can’t continue to demonize people and stay at each others’ throats.
There are some amazing human beings in this country. If we work together to debate honestly and collectively solve our problems, we will have the ability to continue to lead the way in the advancement of civilization.
We need a leader who will bring us together on a shared path forward. Not one that will pit us against one another and enrage our worst demons.
I believe that Kamala Harris is the obvious choice to be our leader and I am proud to have cast my vote for her.
Please get out and vote on November 5 (tomorrow, if you happen to read this via the newsletter when I send it out). If you don’t know how, here is a page with some good instructions.
Be a good citizen. Play your part. It’s the right thing to do.
All the best.
-Lukich