Kurt R.A. Giambastiani

Early voting began yesterday in three U.S. states, which means we are in the final stretch of America’s 2024 presidential election. (Finally!) It also means that for the next six weeks we’re going to be inundated with adverts, texts, mailers, flyers, and door-knockers.

By now, most people have made up their mind, and frankly, if you’ve already decided on voting for Trump, I’ve got nothing for you; thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you next time. However, about 5–6% of Americans are still on the fence, trying to decide either between the candidates, or between voting and staying home.

First, please please please commit to voting on November 5. It is so important that you exercise this power. You can go to Vote.gov to find out if your voter registration is current and/or how to register if you’ve been purged from the rolls. Even if you do not live in one of the critical “swing” states, you still have Senate, House, and state races that are critical to the success of your candidate and the agenda you support.

One of the most common concerns folks express about Harris is that they don’t know enough about her, and don’t know where she stands on the issues. With her having been thrust into the race so late in the game, this is a legitimate concern. We didn’t have a year-long primary to learn these things, and she’s been playing catch-up. However, the information has been coming out, and I encourage anyone still unsure about Harris to explore her positions on the issues—such as the economy, taxes, health care, education, reproductive freedom, climate crisis, civil rights, immigration, gun violence, and foreign policy—and compare them to Trump’s†.

Last point: There has been a lot of activity in state election boards (and in campaign rhetoric from the GOP) that has laid the groundwork for specious challenges to the outcome of the election. If the vote tallies are close, we’re going to see a tsunami of delays, lawsuits, and chaos surrounding demands for recounts and refusals to certify results. To counter this, progressive-leaning voters need to come out in record numbers, to increase that margin of victory (yes, even in reliably blue states), so there can be no doubt as to the outcome.

To me, the choice has always been clear, but I understand that such is not the case for everyone. In my mind, an even temperament and a willingness to compromise are two hallmarks of a successful presidency. Next to those, I look for an agenda that is geared toward helping middle and lower income households, because that is what a society is supposed to do: help those who need help, not those who already have it made.

Harris isn’t a perfect candidate—I’m sure everyone will find one of her policies that rankles—but comparing the two candidates, comparing their respective agendas, and comparing their approaches to governing, I find the GOP candidates terribly lacking. The politics of division and denigration—of women, of minorities, of legal immigrants, of the childless, of the non-Christian and non-hetero and non-cisgender—that is no way to govern a society that is as complex and multi-layered as ours. It is a bleak and hostile view of our nation, its history, and its people, and it deserves to be soundly rejected.

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll put away my soapbox, now.

Remember to check your registration and make a voting plan!

k

† You can find Trump’s issue statements either as part of his series of Agenda 47 videos, or see many of them described in Project 2025. (Though Trump has denied any connection to that project, it was authored by many of his former staff and its elements are strongly echoed in his rhetoric.)