With Their Votes, Americans Will Not Reject Democracy

I expect Kamala Harris to win.

I expect her campaign’s superior voter ID and get-out-the-vote efforts to result in a wider margin of victory than the polls indicate. 

It’s also likely that 2024 presidential poll modeling is overestimating the Republican vote, just as it did in anticipation of a “red wave” that failed to crest in 2022.

Beyond these technical issues, I believe Harris will win because to think otherwise is to libel the honesty, decency and dedication to democracy of this generation of Americans.

The Threat Trump Poses to U.S. Democracy

Trump is a threat to the endurance of the U.S. Constitution. He’s a threat to our system of justice. He’s a threat to the peaceful transfer of power.

These anchors of democracy are embedded deeply in most Americans. We learn of them at a very young age and we venerate their symbols as adults. OUR flag, OUR monuments, OUR Constitution, OUR Statue of Liberty. We hold as sacred the cemeteries where so many Americans lie having fought to their last breathes in defense of what we all consider our inalienable rights.

A majority of Americans in 2024 will not voluntarily risk losing it all. I can’t believe that.
 

Trump Tells Us Himself That He’s a Threat

Is Trump really a threat? He is if you believe what he says. Not slips of the tongue but words he says at nearly every public appearance. Suspend the Constitution. Throw his political opponents in jail—for being his political opponents. Place millions in concentration camps in “bloody” actions. Order the military into our streets to “maintain order.” End the independence of our Department of Justice and make it an extension of the White House. Abolish Civil Service….

Could he actually do all of that? The Supreme Court has just ruled that he can do anything he wants, criminal or not, as long as it’s an “official” act. Would a Trump who to this day has not conceded that he lost the 2020 election hesitate to break down all the guard rails that once held him back? 

And the fact that he’s telling us his plans openly and often means that if he’s elected he would claim the voters have signed on to this mandate. 

The Enduring Strength of American Values

I can’t believe the majority of Americans can look at the American flag on their “I voted” stickers and consider that the flag symbolizes what a hate spewing autocrat like Trump thinks it means.

There are many reasons to believe that Kamala Harris will win the election. None more persuasive than the enduring strength of the foundation this nation was built upon nearly 250 years ago.

Comments? Criticism? Contact Joe Rothstein at jrothstein@rothstein.net

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