Note: This is purely an opinion piece of Dhruv’s own personal views. The content in this article does not reflect the views or opinions of The Perennial or Pinewood School in any way. We welcome submissions on opposing political opinions.
I want you to look past the polls, headlines, and TV ads this fall, and look at what matters – values and track record. Which candidate is going to represent what America stands for – what you stand for?
This election will be the most consequential one this century so far, and if we don’t talk about it, we risk making the wrong choice and going down a path we might regret forever. If we don’t infuse genuine passion into the way we talk about politics, we get lost in our effort to look for a real government and get trapped behind the partisan rambling of news networks that stoke differences of candidates over civil similarities, valuing polls and perception over policy, throwing us deeper into an echo chamber whose walls are laced with the poison of misinformation. We need to talk about politics – keeping our opinions to ourselves helps no one. That’s why I am proud to offer my “endorsement” of Vice President Kamala Harris to be our nation’s next president.
Let’s do a quick rundown on the candidates. Hailing from Oakland, California, Kamala Harris is the highest ranking female official in United States history, serving as our country’s 49th and current vice president. She took on an evenly split Senate, casting more tie-breaking votes than any vice president in history. This includes the Inflation Reduction Act, an appropriations act aimed to reduce the federal deficit by investing in clean energy. She took on the Senate to vote the first Black woman onto the Supreme Court. Harris was the first sitting president or vice president to visit an abortion clinic, and has been an avid advocate of a woman’s right to choose, saying she intends to codify the protections of Roe, challenge state bans, and defend access to mifepristone, contraception, and IVF. She was the head of the White House’s first-ever Office of Gun Violence and Prevention as vice president, spearheading the passage of the most comprehensive gun safety legislation in 30 years.
Former President Donald Trump is the only president in U.S. history to be impeached twice, has been continuously labeled as racist and misogynistic by his peers, pulled the U.S. out of several peace and climate agreements, and incited an insurrection of the U.S. Capitol when the American people voted to throw him out of office. Trump has repeatedly taken credit for overturning Roe v. Wade through his judicial nominees, and he cut funding for thousands of abortion clinics across the country. He has waffled on his positions on gun violence; he has bragged about his support of the National Rifle Association (NRA), but was instrumental in creating a federal rule banning bump stocks, a device that makes weapons more deadly. However, this ban was struck down by the conservative Supreme Court he often brags about creating. He is a man who has hinted he will be a fascist and totalitarian from day one if he is elected. Trump’s words, not mine.
“He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one. After that, I’m not a dictator,’” Trump said at a FOX News town hall last December, according to AP News.
Critics of Harris point to her economic record as evidence of a “broken country.” However, with both Harris and Trump in power, GDP growth was essentially the same. For Harris, unemployment has remained low, with a record number of jobs created coming out of the pandemic. It’s true that prices are still high as a result of inflation, but that’s largely a result of the pandemic, which has affected people globally. Additionally, the Federal Reserve determines inflation, not the president. Couple that with Biden and Harris cutting prices of prescription drugs, increasing wages, and overseeing a strong stock market, and it becomes clear what the truth behind the economy is – Trump was good, but Biden and Harris were just as good, if not better, given the situation they inherited.
Harris also has a plan to help more Americans – taxing the rich to pay their fair share to fund the middle class. She has proposed plans to provide a child tax cut of $6,000 to families and a $50,000 tax deduction to small businesses to stimulate our economy further. Trump, conversely, has proposed a 20% import tariff on all goods, which economists say will raise, not lower, prices for the middle class, as well as cost jobs and damage trade relations.
In my exploration of government, I realize that the person behind an administration is important – we want a leader who is strong enough to represent us on the world stage.
To me, that’s Harris. She is a leader who inspires and motivates, getting her facts right instead of rashly spreading misinformation when she’s losing an argument. She takes time to make the right decisions, relying on the truth of her words and the legitimacy of her work as a public servant.
To me, Harris is a woman of renown, integrity, humility, and patriotism. Trump is a man whose only interest lies in retaining power. Anyone who watched the presidential debate could see the clear difference between “Let’s have a good debate” and “They’re eating the dogs.”
Regardless of your opinions on this election, whether you are a die-hard Trumpie or a Harris supporter, I want you to vote this election. I don’t care who you vote for, how you vote, or when you vote. If you can’t vote yet, like me, encourage your parents, friends, and family members to vote, vote, vote. Democracy is only as strong as the people who empower it, and we must empower it. This is the most consequential election in modern U.S. history, and we are lucky enough to have the opportunity to shape it. Whoever, however, whenever you vote, make sure you vote. Let’s make history together.
