PASSING THE TORCH – LET’S GO KAMALA!
The last few weeks have been crazy politically. I am super glad that Trump was not more badly injured. And it was a history-making earthquake that President Biden stepped down and endorsed VP Harris. I endorsed Kamala in the 2019 primary before she dropped out at which point I immediately pivoted to then-candidate Biden. The same things that drew me to her then are still there, plus now she has had 3 ½ years of experience as the VP. Here she is revving up a crowd recently. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/18/kamala-harris-president-biden-campaign/ and a here is a great ad from The Lincoln Project:
I have mixed feelings about President Biden stepping down because he is a great president and has accomplished so much for the country. But his age and endurance were becoming a big distraction and were tearing the Democratic Party apart. To be the most powerful person in the US and to decide to step aside for the good of the country makes him even more of a hero.
Now let’s unite around the future president of the United States, VP Kamala Harris! She has already raised $81M in the last 24 hours. Here is a link if you want to donate to show your support. https://secure.joebiden.com/a/womenforbiden-bvf?attr=113444891 (This account will change its name to Harris for President once FEC filings are updated).
WE HAVE A CLEAR CHOICE
It’s up to us to decide and to educate others about the choice we have:
· Prosecutor or Fraudster/Predator/Convicted Felon
· Young or Old
· Substantive Woman or Crazy Uncle
· Defender of Democracy or Insurrectionist
We also win on the issues:
· A Proven Record Helping All Americans or A Kleptocracy Available only to the Rich and Connected: People are worried about inflation, but most people say that their personal finances and their state’s economy are doing well. We have a lot of ammunition. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/09/opinion/economy-consumer-sentiment.html We have to make the personal political. Kamala can and will do that. Contrast that to Trump’s cutting of taxes to the extremely wealthy and ballooning the deficit. And I would also add in a dash of Trump doing everything to enrich himself (cue the fraud ruling in New York – finding that he cheated to get rich and used those ill-gotten gains to get additional power - https://apnews.com/article/trump-fraud-letitia-james-new-york-engoron-38bc3a7f2ccb22555c026e9bf70fd5bb)
· Protecting Freedom or Ripping Freedoms Away: They want to take away our freedom to vote, our freedom to control our own bodies (abortion), the freedom to choose who we love (LGBTQ+), the freedom to plan our families (birth control) and the freedom to ensure financial support in our old age through Social Security & Medicare after paying in during years of work (Republicans want to cut both). Although slightly outdated now, I think that this ad when Pres. Biden launched his reelection campaign captures this well:
THE DEMOCRATIC SIDE – THE YOUNG, FUTURE-LOOKING CANDIDATE
· VP Kamala Harris’ Qualifications: Kamala is an extremely talented lawyer who has held multiple high-level positions that qualify her to be the nominee.
· First and foremost, she has been the Vice President for 3½ years. The Biden Harris administration has achieved the following (and more) since 2021:
o Improving Americans’ Finances: Created more jobs than any administration in history. It also saved the pensions of more than 1 million union workers and expanded paid overtime to working families. It also canceled student loans for nearly 5 million people
o Expanding Health Care & Making It More Affordable: Expanded health care to millions of families and lowered the price of insulin to $35 for seniors
o Fighting for Abortion Rights: Kamala has been the administration’s point person for restoring women’s right to an abortion. And the administration made birth control pills available over the counter.
o Fighting against Gun Violence: Kamala also led the charge against gun violence and the administration passed the first gun violence prevention bill in 30 years
o Funding the Fight against Climate Change: Took the largest climate action in the history of the world and made renewable energy the #2 source of electricity in America
· Second, prior to that she was, in reverse order a US Senator from California, the Attorney General in California – the highest-ranked lawyer in the state that would have the 5th largest economy in the world as a stand-alone country, and the San Francisco District Attorney. She was the first woman to be elected in the latter two positions and was reelected to all three positions.
· Kamala has all but clinched the nomination: All her potential rivals have stepped aside and a majority of delegates has pledged to vote for her in the virtual vote. The DNC plans to have a virtual delegate vote by August 7, at least to decide on Kamala. August 7 is the filing deadline of Ohio. Ohio has passed a law to push back that deadline but the law is not yet in effect. And the DNC fears a legal challenge if the nominee were put on the ballot after August 7. IMO, it’s just as well that we did not have an open competition. During the time between the debate and yesterday, I was completely paralyzed politically. I could not handle another 3 weeks of that, and during that time we would not have been able to attack Trump.
· VPs: There are many articles about who the VP will be. I think it will have to be a straight white male from a swing state (sorry, Gavin, Pete, Wes and Raphael (and Gretchen but she said she would not accept the VP spot)). I think it will be Gov. Roy Cooper (NC) – he and Kamala have known each other for 20 years from when they were both AGs. I have also heard it could be Sen. Mark Kelly (AZ).
THE REPUBLICAN SIDE – THE RETROGRADE WANNABE DIC(K)TATORS
We have all seen what MAGA world, led by Trump, says and does. As Maya Angelou said “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Let’s take her advice and not let Trump have a second time.
Project 2025: As for the showing who you are, would publishing a 900-page tome setting out all of the goals of a second Trump administration, count? What if it is called 2025 Presidential Transition Project and allows Trump to be “ready to carry this agenda out on Day One”? And what if more than 140 people who worked in Trump’s administration, including his former chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) during the Trump administration, a former special assistant to the president and associate director of Presidential Personnel, ran Project 2025? What if Trump’s campaign spokeswoman and the Draco Malfoy to Trump’s Voldemort, Stephen Miller, were in recruitment videos for Project 2025? Etc., etc.
The head of the Heritage Foundation – the organization spearheading Project 2025 – said that we are in the midst of a “second American Revolution” that will be bloodless “if the left allows it to be.” And that’s not even the worst part.
Here is a link to the plan itself: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24088042/project-2025s-mandate-for-leadership-the-conservative-promise.pdf and an apocalyptic (but scarily possible) scenario if Trump wins.
Here is a summary of part of Project 2025:
Ban abortion pills and prosecute those who sell them: Project 2025 says that “the Dobbs decision is just the beginning” and that the unborn should be protected “in every jurisdiction in America.” Project 2025, p. 6 (38 of the PDF). It also says that a Trump administration should “[r]everse [the FDA’s] approval of chemical abortion drugs” (i.e. mifepristone – one of the abortion pills). Project 2025, page 458 (490 of the PDF). If they fail at that, they want to “prohibit the distribution of abortion drugs by postal mail.” Project 2025, page 458 (490 of the PDF).
Kill public schools: Project 2025 pushes “universal school choice,” which means less money for public schools. Project 2025, page 5 (37 of the PDF). It also says that parents have the right to challenge (read sue) anyone or anything connected to the public school system. Project 2025, page 5 (37 of the PDF). Anyone who disagrees with the family’s position “should be immediately cut off from federal funds.” Project 2025, page 5 (37 of the PDF). They also want to eliminate the Department of Education, and have schools “funded overwhelmingly by state and local taxpayers.” Project 2025, page 319 (351 of the PDF). The Department of Education currently provides $120 billion annually to public schools. https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics.
Empower the president to criminally prosecute his enemies: Project 2025 proposes that the entire federal bureaucracy, including independent agencies such as the Department of Justice, be placed under direct presidential control. According to them Article II of the Constitution grants the president the power to set the agendas of all federal agencies. Project 2025, page 20 (52 of the PDF). Such unitary executive power would make his goal to be a “dictator on day one” easier. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/12/trump-says-hell-be-a-dictator-on-day-one/676247/ We can probably check this off the list because the Supreme Court just decided that Trump has unitary executive power. The majority in Trump v. United States (a chillingly accurate title) said that the president is immune from criminal prosecution for all official acts. It also states that: “The President may discuss potential investigations and prosecutions with his Attorney General and other Justice Department officials” to carry out his constitutional duty to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” As Justice Sotomayor noted in her dissent, the majority opinion would grant a president immunity if s/he “Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival.”
Dumb down and politicize the civil service: Project 2025 seeks to eliminate job protections for thousands of government employees so that they could be replaced by political appointees loyal to Trump. They think that the bureaucracy “lack[s]..responsiveness to political leadership.” Project 2025, page 83 (115 of the PDF). Trump said that he “will immediately reissue my 2020 Executive Order restoring the president’s authority to remove rogue bureaucrats. And I will wield that power very aggressively.” https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2024/07/12/project-2025-trump-election-democracy This is Dictator 101 in action. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/timeline-event/holocaust/1933-1938/law-for-the-restoration-of-the-professional-civil-service
Eliminate gay marriage: Project 2025 aims to gut protections for the LGBTQ community. It says that the government should use a “biblically based, social science–reinforced [don’t know what the hell this refers to – the Scopes trial?] definition of marriage and family,” i.e., “one man and one unrelated woman.” Project 2025, page 481 (583 of the PDF). It also wants to “reverse the Biden Administration’s focus on ‘LGBTQ+ equity.’” Project 2025, page 284 (316 of the PDF).
Kill support for fighting climate change: A new Trump administration would “cease [the government’s] war on fossil fuels” and “narrowly limit funding to traditional climate mitigation efforts.” Project 2025, page 257 (289 of the PDF).
Use military personnel for immigration issues: Project 2025 would “mandate[…the] need for and utilization of U.S. military personnel” to enforce border policies. Project 2025, page 139 (171of the PDF). If reelected, Trump plans to use the National Guard as part of efforts to deport millions of migrants across the country and to build open air detention camps in Texas for those waiting to be deported. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/11/us/politics/trump-2025-immigration-agenda.html
One other interesting point:
· Social Media: They want federal action against social media companies for “fuel[ing] mental illness and anxiety” in children. Project 2025, page 5-6 (37-38 of the PDF). While I agree with this, it is a little ironic coming from a “free speech” party (free speech for me not for thee). It also raises eyebrows about Vance’s close ties to billionaires in Silicon Valley.
JD Vance – the Project 2025 VP
The choice of JD Vance is good for Democrats.
· No Moral Compass: He is an opportunist who will flip his position to anything Trump wants just to get power. See his previous comments about Trump including that he was “America’s Hitler.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/16/jd-vance-political-views-trump; https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jd-vance-defends-trump-claims-invoking-jean-carroll/story?id=106925954
· Extremist on Abortion: Like Project 2025, Vance is a radical pro-lifer. In 2022, Vance said: “I certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally,” and that he was “sympathetic” to the view that a national ban was necessary to stop women from traveling across state lines to obtain an abortion. https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/17/politics/kfile-jd-vance-abortion-comments/index.html He also basically said that rape and incest victims should be forced to carry pregnancies to term. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jd-vance-abortion-stance-biden-campaign/ Although he claims that he has now reformed his super unpopular ways, in 2023 he said that Ohio’s vote to make abortion rights part of the Ohio Constitution was a “gut punch.” https://www.reuters.com/world/us/where-jd-vance-trumps-vp-pick-stands-key-issues-2024-07-16/
· Election Denier: He thinks that Trump won the 2020 election and that there should have been a slate of pro-Trump delegates. He also said that he would have refused to certify the election. (VP Pence was almost killed on January 6 for certifying the 2020 election.) https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jd-vance-defends-trump-claims-invoking-jean-carroll/story?id=106925954
· Advocates Using the Government for Illegal Activity: Vance also echoes the expansion of executive power advocated by Project 2025 to allow the president to do illegal things he will be immune from. Vance thinks that that conservatives should employ the taxation power to “seize” the assets of ‘woke, leftist’ nonprofits such as the Ford Foundation and universities such as Harvard.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/16/jd-vance-political-views-trump
· Deep State Conspiracist and Advocate for Ignoring Supreme Court Rulings: Directly echoing Project 2025, he also thinks that Trump should fire everyone in the government and replace them with “our people.” He takes it even a step further, basically renouncing the Constitutional separation of powers. He said if the Supreme Court ruled that Trump could not fire the civil service, JD Vance would basically advocate saying: “The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.” https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jd-vance-defends-trump-claims-invoking-jean-carroll/story?id=106925954
Moderate Republicans (if they still exist) will find him too extremist. But, ironically, he is not extremist enough for the Neo-Nazis, a core element of the Maga/Trump coalition, because he is married to (gasp!) a brown woman who is Hindu. https://talkingpointsmemo.com/where-things-stand/usual-cast-of-far-right-extremists-goes-into-racist-tailspin-over-jd-vances-wife
THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION NEEDS YOU
Finally, I am volunteering at the Convention, which is August 19-22 in Chicago. It may turn out to be different than I first expected (see above) and it will definitely be fascinating and exciting. You can come too! If you or someone you know is interested, sign up here: https://chicago2024.com/volunteer/. It is my understanding that you just pick which shifts work for you (i. e. it is not full time).
Let’s get to work!
Best,
Mara