In politics, we’re often voting against instead of for something. And our choices have been based on our fears rather than our aspirations. It certainly has felt that way in this presidential election. While I feel President Biden has done an excellent job given the extraordinary challenges he faced in his term, he did the right thing by passing the baton to Vice President Kamala Harris. She energizes voters because she gives us something more than just “orange man bad.” She has given us a vision and a platform that will reunite our country and bring it forward.

To explain, I’m listing 47 reasons why I’m voting for her to become 47th President of the United States. These are reasons based on the things I want for America and how I expect her leadership will bring them to fruition.

1. She is the best qualified of the major party candidates. She has been a district attorney, Attorney General of California, United States Senator, and Vice President of the United States. Compare that to her opponent, who had no public service experience prior to being elected president, and his running mate, who has been in the Senate for only two years.
2. She has shown she’s the type of person who doesn’t take crap from anyone, from taking on Brett Kavanaugh and Bill Barr to telling Vice President Pence not to interrupt her during the debate. I’d feel good with her sitting across the table from President Putin or President Xi in a tense negotiation.
3. She is also a person of tremendous empathy, especially to families affected by violence. If there is ever another moment of national crisis, I trust her to say and do the right things to reassure our country and bring us together.
4. If there is another pandemic, I would trust her to draw upon the best information from doctors and scientists to bring the crisis to an end.
5. She will reduce crime through programs she promoted in the past: community policing, diversion programs to get non-violent offenders into education and job-training programs, and improving the quality of life for those in struggling communities. She will also go after white-collar criminals, big businesses that use predatory practices, and those who commit hate crimes. All communities will be safer with Harris as president.
6. Like our most highly regarded of presidents, including Kennedy, Reagan, and Obama, she has a great sense of humor. Her ability to laugh at herself shows her confidence and self-awareness as a leader.
7. She’s able to bring together people of different communities and age groups. She connects with the youth because she doesn’t pander or patronize. She reaches across the aisle to her political opponents. The warm reaction people give her is organic and genuine, not forced and cult-like.
8. I can trust her to staff government positions with the best qualified people, not toadies who blindly obey their leader.
9. With Kamala Harris as president, I can start Medicare when I turn 65 and get Social Security when I retire.
10. My taxes won’t go up. The richest Americans and corporations will pay more in taxes, but it’s an increase they can afford. And the increase will enable us to cut the deficit, lower our debt, and improve our national credit rating. It will shore up the US dollar as the world’s leading currency and fend off rivals like BRICS.
11. We will continue to get improvements to our infrastructure, including safer roads and bridges, a more resilient and hacker-proof electric grid, high-speed rail, and national broadband Internet.
12. She will continue Biden administration policies to lower inflation, increase job growth, and boost the economy.
13. I’ve become a fan of electric vehicles since I bought one (thanks to Biden’s clean energy tax credit). I believe EVs will get better and more affordable as the technology improves. We can see more investment in charging stations and research into batteries that are longer lasting and better for the environment. America can become the world’s leader in clean technology.
14. She will lower the price of medical care and improve access to all.
15. New treatments for cancer will become available because of the investments the government is making in research.
16. The space program will be revitalized with a return of missions to the moon and robotic missions through the solar system and beyond. New discoveries and innovations that come from space exploration will benefit us all.
17. Labor unions will be strengthened. The improvements in wages and working conditions will improve the lives of all workers.
18. She will continue to strengthen NATO and our other alliances throughout the world. This will force Russia to abandon their Eurasianist ambitions in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, get China to back off on Taiwan, and make the world safer.
19. A Democratic victory is the best chance to accomplish the only thing that will bring lasting peace for Israel and the rest of the Middle East, a just settlement with the Palestinians.
20. She will strengthen democratic movements against totalitarian regimes around the world. Human rights will once again become a key part of US foreign policy.
21. She will work with our neighbors in Latin America to improve the conditions that cause many to migrate here. I can see her engaging in positive discussions with Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, along with other regional leaders and NGOs. This, along with a strong border policy, will address concerns about illegal immigration.
22. Access to safe reproductive care will become the rule of law.
23. Protection of the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans will become the rule of law.
24. Meaningful gun regulation that protects communities and the Second Amendment will become the rule of law.
25. Consumer rights will be protected. (And can we please get Katie Porter a cabinet position?)
26. Those who committed crimes against the United States during the Trump presidency, including the former president himself, will face their day in court. If convicted, they will receive the proper punishment like any other person.
27. The Supreme Court will be reformed. Those who lied during confirmation hearings, took bribes, and supported an insurrection will face the impeachment process. A code of ethics and term limits will ensure accountability while protecting the independence and impartiality of the judicial system.
28. New Constitutional amendments will be introduced to repair the damage done during the Trump presidency. These will include limits to presidential immunity and reforms to the process of electing a president so we can prevent another January 6. It’s also high time to ratify the ERA.
29. Citizens United will be overturned, so special interests can no longer buy control of the government.
30. My granddaughter will continue to get the special education programs, therapy, and equipment she needs to become a fully contributing part of society.
31. I can plan for the future. I know there will be a 2025 if she’s elected in November 2024. I don’t have to rush to get our family passports in case we need to flee for our lives.
32. My wife will be able to take sole ownership of our home and bank accounts if I pass away before her.
33. My daughter and granddaughter won’t become second-class citizens, especially if they don’t have children.
34. For everyone concerned about the declining birth rate, families would want to have children if they can afford a home, household expenses, medical care, and education, and if they know their children will have a world worth growing up in. Under the Harris administration, we will continue to address the climate crisis. IVF will remain legal. Same-sex couples will still be able to adopt. Improved sex education programs and access to contraceptives will enable families to have children when they are ready. Hope and confidence, rather than shame and coercion, are how you convince people to bring more lives into the world.
35. If my daughter and granddaughter need emergency medical care, they will get it without restrictions.
36. My children and grandchildren won’t have fewer rights than I did when I was their age.
37. I won’t be arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and executed because of something I wrote.
38. I won’t be forced to convert to Christianity, especially the false and perverted version that the far-right preaches.
39. She will make bigotry shameful again. If President Harris makes life better for you, and all you can do is spew racist and misogynistic slurs, you’re the one with the problem.
40. She will make a wonderful host when the Olympic Games come to Los Angeles in 2028. Anyone who complains when an opening ceremony isn’t Christian enough has no business being around the Olympics.
41. I won’t cringe when I hear the president speak. (He’s even worse than before. And doesn’t he know Hannibal Lecter is a fictional character?)
42. I won’t have to look at the Vice President and think, “They say he had sex with a sofa.”
43. Politics will stop being weird and become normal again. We can have meaningful discussions about solving problems. Political parties will be just differences of ideas instead of the core of people’s personalities they must fight to the death to defend. We stop demonizing each other based on ideology. Our identity as Americans supersedes our party affiliation.
44. A healthy democracy needs strong opposition parties. If the Republican Party is throughly humiliated in this election, they will either be forced to rid themselves of the personality cult and religious extremism that has dragged them down, or they must be relegated as a fringe party so a true conservative party can take their place.
45. America will stay America if Kamala Harris is elected. She will respect our institutions, depend on the expertise of our departments, and uphold the Constitution. America will continue to function as it has for the past 248 years as we work to become a more perfect union.
46. I can look forward to America’s Semiquincentennial in 2026 with excitement and pride.
47. Kamala Harris can bring our country back together. We’ve had so much division and rancor over the past eight years. We’re ready for an honest patriotism that comes from a shared sense of purpose and concern for one another. We’re tired of separating ourselves by political party, ethnicity, and the brand of beer we drink. We’re ready for hope and unity. I believe Kamala Harris can deliver this.

President Harris can’t do it alone. We must also elect a Democratic House and Senate so she can carry out the work we want done. (It will also force the Republicans to clean up their act. See number 44.) More than that, we need to vote for local candidates, judges, and ballot propositions that improve the quality of life in our communities. We need school boards filled with those who care about our children’s education, and keep out those who would use them as platforms for their hate. Your vote matters in every election for every office.

Make sure you’re registered and have all the information you need to vote at vote.org. If you want to join me in helping Kamala Harris get elected president, go to kamalaharris.com.

Related topics:

If you change your mind What I want for America Public education – attack at your own risk Why community service is now more important than ever

Powered by YARPP.