After most of this one-of-a-kind campaign, reminiscent of 1968 but hardly the same, we’re 18 days away from making our presidential decisions. The right choice is no foggier than it was last time.
The
Republican nominee in 2020 and election winner in 2016 runs again as the first
major-party choice to stand for a third time since Franklin D. Roosevelt in
1940. That’s not the problem, and his
age, 78, which would make him older on Inauguration Day than any other president,
isn’t the main one either. Donald Trump
has more flaws and disqualifying characteristics than any Democratic or
Republican nominee I have seen since I started following campaigns with
Nixon-Humphrey. He is a convicted felon
who has consistently shown he does not want to follow our laws and
Constitution. He has a bizarre,
apparently insatiable sweet tooth for lying, way beyond any of his competitors
even in this often-sordid profession. He
has shown affinity with the world’s dictators, while saying many things
indicating he would strive to be one himself.
He has threatened legal and even military retribution against those
taking lawful measures to stop him. His
attitudes toward women, over a wide spectrum of areas, are disastrous. His delusions, such as him being the true
2020 winner, which he has often insisted be supported by those working with
him, have persisted. And on jobs and the
economy, his proposed extensive and expensive tariffs would drastically worsen
both.
Nothing
reported in news sources has been able to reverse the Trump tide. His advocates have remained impervious to
these issues, even when they are shown to be the truth. And others have expressed a willingness to
pollsters to join his side. The reasons
for his popularity will be discussed for decades or centuries to come, but
common sense or prudent judgment will not be among them. Some of his heavy contributors are extremely
wealthy, expecting to save tens or hundreds or millions of dollars on his likelihood
of taxing them less, but that does not make them worthy of emulation by the
rest of us. Perhaps the largest lesson
of the 20th century was that those who people find charismatic may lead
us in devastatingly wrong directions, and caution about Trump seems a clear response.
His opponent,
Kamala Harris, is a former district attorney who is currently the vice
president. She has shortcomings, but has
shown in public appearances to be sober, reasonable, lawful, and almost always
truthful. We don’t know exactly how well
she would work out, but it is obvious that her downside is vastly smaller. As contrasted with her opponent, who has been
described as a weak man’s idea of a strong man, Harris is forceful without
being abrasive, and will work with politicians on both sides. That is what we need in 2025 and beyond.
The best
justification for a Trump vote I have heard was from one who said he was a
reprehensible person, but she was not choosing a friend. I don’t buy that, since the world is too
dangerous, and our allies too valuable, for us to pick someone who needs to be
contained. And we still have a large
nuclear arsenal with which the president would have great scope. Junkyard dogs can be mean, but presidents need
not be.
I have not
mentioned Harris’s or Trump’s running mates, but both seem fair choices. Either Tim Walz or J.D. Vance would rate to
be adequate if circumstances put them into the top job, and, in the case of
Vance, would get the presidency in steadier hands. There is also little here about either
candidate’s meager list of proposed policies, since that is not what this
election is about.
As of
yesterday morning, the PredictIt site showed its contributors giving a combined
five-point winning-percentage advantage to Trump. We can do better, and massive amounts of
safety and prosperity may depend on whether we do. We need look only at what news and
information sources, even including those generally favorable to his cause, say
the realities are. If this registered
Republican who might have chosen a conservative nominee from that party can
avoid him, so can you. And please
vote.
Royal Flush
Press endorses Kamala Harris for president.
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