Calmes: Top 10 reasons to vote for Kamala Harris for president

Last week I listed the top 10 reasons to vote against Donald Trump. Here is a complementary list of arguments for He elevated Vice President Kamala Harris to the presidency. Again, drum rolland counting down to number 1:

10. He has a good resume for the job.

Harris has more than two decades of experience and a solid track record of public service at all levels of government: as a local prosecutor and San Francisco district attorney; As attorney general of California, the state; and as a federal, U.S. senator and vice president. In California, he won the fight against transnational criminals, for-profit colleges, home foreclosures, and corporate polluters. On a national level, she became an advocate for reproductive rights and policies that actually helped the working class rather than paying lip service to them. a Trump.

Columnist

Jackie Calmes

Jackie Calmes brings a critical perspective to the national political scene. He has decades of experience covering the White House and Congress.

After all, Harris has more government experience, including national security (as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and vice president), than Presidents Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama, and Trump had when they took office.

9. He is a compromise-oriented pragmatist.

Forget Trump’s nonsense about Harris being a Marxist; he is an extremist; a “fascist,” as former chief of staff John F. Kelly said warns. Former Republican Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan said Harris was “a strong, determined public servant who tried to bring people together.” last weekJoining more than 30 former party colleagues in condemning Trump.

Harris’s shift to the left five years ago during her short-lived presidential campaign that included issues of health care, the environment and policing was a pandering to the party’s liberals; he wasn’t honest with himself, so his performance was poor. But he learned from his experiences and from his service as a surrogate for the conciliatory President Biden. As Democratic elder James Carville noted Harris’ support ranges from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the Democratic left to Dick and Liz Cheney on the right, making her coalition “the broadest we’ve seen in modern political history,” the New York Times reported Wednesday.

8. He used to elect public officials for his administration.

It should be unremarkable that Harris (or any president) would assemble a competent Cabinet and under-Cabinet appointees. But that’s the case when the alternative is a Trump administration without the “adults in the room” who allegedly worked for him before. Like Trump lately warnedAs for choosing an advisor, “I know the game a little better now.” Its purpose, as stated Project 2025is to hollow out the non-partisan civil service and fill jobs with sycophants loyal to him, not the Constitution.

7. Trump would let his lawsuits play out.

Harris would not treat the Justice Department as her personal law firm to carry out her threats, as Trump has and will do again. “revenge.” With the help of sycophants (see above), he was closing criminal cases against himself and initiating new cases against his enemies. HE said Right-wing radio host Hugh Hewitt said Tuesday he would fire special counsel Jack Smith “in two seconds.”

More than 40 former Justice Department officials from both parties approved Harris said the department, like every president other than Trump since Watergate, would respect prosecutorial independence. Justice and justice will continue because the charges against Trump on January 6 and the receipt of classified documents are deserved. These are not the result of Democrats “weaponizing” the government, as Trump lied about.

6. He would be a better financial and economic manager.

Neither Harris nor Trump has a plan to combat the unsustainable growth of the federal debt; both contribute to this. But Harris’ tax and spending policy agenda will cost half as much as Trump’s nonpartisan analysisand provides a better return on public investments. And in the Wall Street Journal questionnaireMost economists predicted that inflation, interest rates and deficits would be much higher under Trump.

Although he and many voters blame Biden and Harris for inflation in recent years, price increases were inevitable given post-pandemic demand. But inflation fell and inflation-adjusted wages rose pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, Harris will respect the independence of the Federal Reserve; as president, Trump didn’t do this.

5. He would benefit from Biden’s climate change initiatives.

Trump not only recognizes the existential threat, he mocks it and promises to cancel landmark Biden-Harris investments in clean energy. Instead, “I’m drilling, baby, I’m drilling.” (Again, contrary to Trump’s lies, US energy production under the Biden administration World records.) Harris calls for pursuing a hybrid approach that supports existing fossil fuel projects but emphasizes clean energy subsidies.

4. It would signal to the world that the United States remains committed to democracy and its multilateral alliances.

Harris will maintain U.S. leadership in NATO and other global institutions, respect existing international agreements, including on climate, and support Ukraine against Russian aggression. He stated that he would oppose Israel’s right-wing government rather than Biden. None of this can be true for re-elected Trump. Foreign allies fear his return to power; By simply electing Harris, Americans would reassure the free world.

3. He would select diverse and mainstream candidates for the federal courts.

Harris will continue Biden’s practice of selecting respected, mainstream judicial nominees who vary in their professional backgrounds, genders and races. Unlike Trump’s right-wing ideologues, he will likely elect relative moderates; especially if there is a Republican majority in the Senate, as predicted, willing to find any excuse to thwart their election. We expect far-right Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas, 76, and Samuel A. Alito Jr., 74, to delay retirement rather than let them choose their successors. But this is preferable to Trump electing younger clones who will serve for decades.

2. It has character.

Harris is not a habitual liar, is not prone to personal power or self-aggrandizement, and is untouched by scandal. Unlike Trump, he will be “a president for all Americans” and will “put country above party and self,” as he said at the Democratic National Convention.

1. He’s not Trump.

He said enough.

@jackiekcalmes