voting

Kamala Harris for President

As the 2024 election season heats up, Kamala Harris’s policy platform has begun to shape a forward-thinking blueprint for what she calls an “Opportunity Economy” and a “New Way Forward.” With an approach that blends economic pragmatism and social investment, her policy outline aims to strengthen the middle class while addressing the core issues faced by millions of Americans today. Kamala Harris policies zero in on economic stability, healthcare affordability, and supporting American families through accessible resources, tax cuts, and an intentional focus on civil and reproductive rights.

Though some complain about not knowing what her policies are, she speaks of them in every speech, interview, or discussion and has them freely available on her website. Mainstream media in particular ought to be doing more of their own research vs. entertaining spurious claims that she has outlined no 2024 policy proposals. It’s also a quintessential example of the way women are forced to thread a needle in a way that men simply aren’t — I’m old enough to remember when Hillary Clinton was once famously derided for being too wonky and having too many policy proposals. You really can’t win.

Kamala Harris policy to-do list

Meanwhile, Harris has a robust economic plan for the middle class as well as fighting staunchly for civil rights, voting rights, reproductive freedom, and democracy in an increasingly multipolar world. Harris’s economic policy combines key strategies designed to lower costs for middle-class families—fighting inflation, tackling price gouging, and expanding Medicare to help the “Sandwich Generation” juggling care for both children and aging parents.

Her policies also encourage entrepreneurship through substantial tax deductions for small businesses and foster a fairer housing market by promoting affordable housing initiatives and cracking down on price fixing. Harris’s vision is one of a sustainable, inclusive future where both family support and economic growth converge to drive lasting change.

Beyond economic reform, her platform emphasizes national security, comprehensive immigration reform, civil rights protections, and an ambitious climate policy. Together, these components create a multifaceted approach intended to protect American values while boosting prosperity. Harris’s policy platform offers voters an actionable vision for a stronger, more equitable America built on accessible opportunities and resilient middle-class foundations.

Kamala Harris economic policy

Kamala Harris has been promoting her economic policy agenda since mid-August — which was a mere 2 weeks since becoming the new top of the ticket suddenly and unexpectedly when Joe Biden decided to withdraw from and race and pass the torch. Her “New Way Forward” for the economy is rooted in a central goal of strengthening the middle class through practical, targeted policies. Aiming to create an “Opportunity Economy,” her platform emphasizes lowering costs for families, capping drug prices, tackling price gouging, and expanding Medicare to better support those juggling elder and child care responsibilities (aka “the Sandwich Generation”).

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Ask not what your country can do for you, y’all. Here’s how to volunteer your time and energy to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz our next President and Vice President.

Early voting has already started! Including in some of the swingiest swing states including Georgia. These final days will be crucial to accelerating our gains and running up the score for Kamala Harris this 2024 Election.

You can pick up the phone, or the pen, open the wallet, or contribute via whatever channel moves you — but We The People have a key part to play in preserving democracy for the next generations. Voting is essential — but can you do more?? As Michelle Obama commanded: DO SOMETHING!

Most activist groups had to adjust to political organizing completely online during the pandemic, so it is exceedingly easy now to parachute in to a group and get involved right away, whether that’s on the phone talking to voters or prospective voters, texting potential voters, writing letters or postcards, helping others canvassing directly, using social media as an influencer, or other forms of organizing or messaging. All you really need is an internet connection and ideally a laptop and a phone — but you can get by with a tablet and a phone or even just a phone for certain volunteering campaigns.

2024 Election

“Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something.” — Gil Scot-Heron

It’s our time, people. We need to turn this tide. We need to confront fascism in its new face. Its new form. Its morphology of ugliness in its ought to have been knowing better by now. We’ve seen this movie before. We know how it ends. It’s not pretty for the outgroup — if they survive at all.

We cannot let that happen in America — the land of the free, and the home of the brave. These are no hollow words. These are not things we take lightly. We will not be moved from our patriotism. We will not allow the right-wing merchants of doubt to kill our joy — to dampen our conviction that America is one of the greatest places in the world.

Getting involved if you don’t have a ton of time

Field 6 BYOP Bring Your Own Phone Text Banks

After a half hour training these Field Team 6 BYOP sessions are so easy to drop right into and register about ~34 new Democrats per day before Google Voice throttles me. It’s super easy and effective which is a rare combo. I feel like it’s a secret little stealth weapon against the GOP that, given the number of participants and texts per day, is likely to wield a consequential influence on the 2024 election.

Donate!

If you don’t have much time to offer, campaigns up and down the ballot can certainly make use of your money.

Getting involved as much as you can

Best: Canvassing

As of Oct 26, the best way you can get involved is to do local canvassing if you live near or can get to a swing state or swing district. Check Mobilize for canvasses near you.

Next Best: Phone Banking

The second best way is to join the DNC Call Crew. They will deploy you to whichever states are highest priority at a given moment, give you scripts to work from and plenty of support. Phone banking can be intimidating for sure — talking to strangers isn’t most peoples’ idea of a great time — but it actually can be quite great. You’ll get a lot of hang ups and a lot of folks who don’t want to talk to you — very few who will want to argue — and some solid percentage of friendlies who give you excitement and realness and a sense of civic pride. It’s a great reminder about how we’re all Americans, and in that, we have the potential to find common ground.

They will train you in less than an hour, whether you’ve phone banked before or this is your first time. They have been doing this for a while now and the trainings are excellent and operations are efficient and well-oiled. After that, you can call pretty much anytime you like between the hours of 10am and 12am (yes midnight! Pacific campaigns can be dialed until then), hang out in Slack with a bunch of like-minded civic strivers, and contribute your hugely valuable time to contacting a set of voters who could well make the difference in a county, state, or presidential level.

Go here to find a training: https://events.democrats.org/event/551644/

Volunteer with the DNC for the Harris-Walz campaign by making calls to voters in swing states from wherever you live.

Kamala Harris Official

The campaign has a volunteer portal on their website at go.kamalaharris.com.

DNC Official

The Democratic National Committee offers phone and text banking as well as numerous other programs and volunteer opportunities. You can also sign up specifically for voter protection efforts, particularly if you live in a crucial swing state.

DCCC for House races

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the body specifically charged with supporting Democratic candidates in and running for the House. With increasing momentum behind the Harris-Walz campaign, there is increased priority in taking back a House majority in 2024 — get involved at the DCCC Action Center.

Swing Left

Longtime progressive activists Swing Left are swinging hard for Kamala Harris in 2024.

Indivisible

The progressive organization formed to help citizens resist the Trump administration offers a handy tool for finding volunteer opportunities — simply plug in your address to find the most impactful actions based on your location.

Mobilize

Bookmark Mobilize.us to get a large database of volunteer opportunities and other ways to plug in to the 2024 election, Harris campaign, state and local politics, and more.

Continue reading How to Volunteer: DO SOMETHING!
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Kamala Harris for President 2024

Kamala Harris is poised to break that glass ceiling that Hillary Clinton cracked and I am so here for it. She was my Senator when I lived in California and I appreciated her energy back then — and I would be thrilled for her service as the first woman president.

And I’m by no means the only one — from White Dudes for Harris to Republicans for Harris to Mormons for Harris, to Democratic groups up and down the spectrum, there is renewed energy in this election and momentum has been building even since Biden’s decision to step down from the race.

The selection of Tim Walz as her running mate adds yet another layer of awesomeness — with his folksy small town dad appeal, military service, midwestern charm, and zingy comebacks and catchy takedowns of Trump and Vance as “weird,” he seems to be bringing a hefty punching up vibe to the campaign.

Meanwhile, all the Orange Man and emo beardo seem able to do is sling racist and sexist insults at Kamala, or attempt a cheap knockoff of the swiftboating of John Kerry with Walz’s military service that’s been swiftly and resoundingly debunked. People aren’t falling for it.

Imagine if the momentum carries us all the way to a blue wave, and a Democratic Congress… we could perhaps have nice things! Time to put shoulders to the wheel. Give whatever time and money you can, if you can.

🗳️ Here’s how to volunteer 🗳️

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Biden gave a fiery speech in Detroit today and pitched his plan for his second term’s first 100 days, if given a Democratic Congress. Which would mean that by around May of 2025 we could have the following nice things:

It sure sounds like a far cry from whatever fiery white supremacist death zone backed by ravenous billionaires would be unleashed upon us in Trump‘s first 100 days (only 1 of which, we are led to believe, would be as a dictator… sure, Jan). It is the opposite direction of the literal End Times hellscape vision of Project 2025 and its Christofascist propagandists who have abused the American Evangelical church to the point of being unrecognizably distant from anything Christ himself taught.

Vote blue no matter who

I’m bored with the obsession over Biden’s age. He’s 81, he’s not 101. He certainly still passes the Turing Test to me — others apparently see something different. Superagers can go a long time these days — Charles Koch is 88 and leads both an oil empire and a conservative dark money juggernaut. Rupert Murdoch is 93 and only last year stepped down from leading one of the world’s largest media empires.

I don’t think there’s anyone in the world who can match Joe Biden’s foreign policy experience, having been at the table on major world events for decades now. He knows everybody — and has warm relationships with our allies. Unlike Trump, who has spurned everyone America has cherished and cozied up to (other) two-bit dictators with tiny hands syndrome. Biden is holding up the Western order against a revanchist Russia seeking to erode the post-Cold War consensus and spread the forces of authoritarianism widely around the globe — Trump would simply hand Ukraine to Putin and welcome the wave of illiberalism to wash over his slavering Project 2025 belligerents.

I think we urgently need Joe Biden’s unparalleled experience at this moment in history — no one else can match it. Although now Kamala Harris is no slouch in that regard either, given her 4 years of jetting around the globe as VP, years in the Senate before that, years as California AG, and a decade as the District Attorney of San Francisco before that. If Biden decides at some point in the next 4 years to stand down and hand the reins to Harris, that would be a fantastic outcome. In the meantime, why don’t we give the man some respect for his own self-assessment?

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Election denialism, the refusal to accept credible election outcomes, has significantly impacted U.S. history, especially in recent years. This phenomenon is not entirely new; election denial has roots that stretch back through various periods of American history. However, its prevalence and intensity have surged in the contemporary digital and political landscape, influencing public trust, political discourse, and the very fabric of democracy.

Historical context

Historically, disputes over election outcomes are as old as the U.S. electoral system itself. For instance, the fiercely contested 1800 election between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams resulted in a constitutional amendment (the 12th Amendment) to prevent similar confusion in the future. The 1876 election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden was resolved through the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Reconstruction and had profound effects on the Southern United States.

Yet these instances, while contentious, were resolved within the framework of existing legal and political mechanisms, without denying the legitimacy of the electoral process itself. Over time, claims of election fraud would come to be levied against the electoral and political system itself — with dangerous implications for the peaceful transfer of power upon which democracy rests.

Voting box in an election, by Midjourney

The 21st century and digital influence

Fast forward to the 21st century, and election denialism has taken on new dimensions, fueled by the rapid dissemination of disinformation (and misinformation) through digital media and a polarized political climate. The 2000 Presidential election, with its razor-thin margins and weeks of legal battles over Florida’s vote count, tested the country’s faith in the electoral process.

Although the Supreme Court‘s decision in Bush v. Gore was deeply controversial, Al Gore’s concession helped to maintain the American tradition of peaceful transitions of power.

The 2020 Election: A flashpoint

The 2020 election, marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots, became a flashpoint for election denialism. Claims of widespread voter fraud and electoral malfeasance were propagated at the highest levels of government, despite a lack of evidence substantiated by multiple recounts, audits, and legal proceedings across several states.

The refusal to concede by President Trump and the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, marked a watershed moment in U.S. history, where election denialism moved from the fringes to the center of political discourse, challenging the norms of democratic transition. Widely referred to as The Big Lie, the baseless claims of election fraud that persist in the right-wing to this day are considered themselves to be a form of election fraud by justice officials, legal analysts, and a host of concerned citizens worried about ongoing attempts to overthrow democracy in the United States.

Implications, public trust, and voter suppression

The implications of this recent surge in election denialism are far-reaching. It has eroded public trust in the electoral system, with polls indicating a significant portion of the American populace doubting the legitimacy of election results. This skepticism is not limited to the national level but has trickled down to local elections, with election officials facing threats and harassment. The spread of misinformation, propaganda, and conspiracy theories about electoral processes and outcomes has become a tool for political mobilization, often exacerbating divisions within the American society.

Moreover, election denialism has prompted legislative responses at the state level, with numerous bills introduced to restrict voting access in the name of election security. These measures have sparked debates about voter suppression and the balance between securing elections and ensuring broad electoral participation. The challenge lies in addressing legitimate concerns about election integrity while avoiding the disenfranchisement of eligible voters.

Calls for reform and strengthening democracy

In response to these challenges, there have been calls for reforms to strengthen the resilience of the U.S. electoral system. These include measures to enhance the security and transparency of the voting process, improve the accuracy of voter rolls, and counter misinformation about elections. There’s also a growing emphasis on civic education to foster a more informed electorate capable of critically evaluating electoral information.

The rise of election denialism in recent years highlights the fragility of democratic norms and the crucial role of trust in the electoral process. While disputes over election outcomes are not new, the scale and impact of recent episodes pose unique challenges to American democracy. Addressing these challenges requires a multifaceted approach, including legal, educational, and technological interventions, to reinforce the foundations of democratic governance and ensure that the will of the people is accurately and fairly represented.

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While we wring our hands in the United States over whether or not such a strategy is even conceivable, the erstwhile President of Russia has been running this playbook out in the open in Ukraine and Eastern Europe for some time. With help from Propagandist-in-Chief Vladislav Surkov, Putin has leveraged the open secrets about the psychology of crowds we learned in the late 19th and early 20th century to stir up emotional antagonisms within the political spectrum — to predictable results.

It’s no accident that fascism is on the march in America. The conditions have been brewing for some time, predominantly since the Conservative movement began breaking away more militantly from democratic principles and towards authoritarian philosophy (elite rule by force: preferably invisible force via economic hegemony for the middle and upper classes, and violent force / the carceral state for The Undesirables) in the late 1970s and 1980s. All Putin had to do was make use of available prevailing conditions and tools — the rise of social media in the 2000s counterintuitively blew a gaping wide security hole in the American persuasion landscape that Cold War Soviet operatives of the 1960s would scarcely have believed.

Today, as in parts of Europe between the world wars, the U.S. has partisan gridlock within The Establishment sector of politics; this exacerbates the impatience with and contempt for the status quo (aka the Liberal world order) that in some sense naturally congeals at the far right and far left margins of the political spectrum as a simple consequence of the Normal Distribution (the Median Voter Theorem captures this tendency quite succinctly). Under such conditions, an influence campaign like the one Russia wielded against the United States during the 2016 election season was tasked merely with tilting the playing field a little further — a task that platforms like Facebook and Twitter were in some sense fundamentally engineered to accomplish, in exchange for ad revenue.

New World Order? Be careful what we wish for

“Both Italian and German fascists had done their best to make democracy work badly. But the deadlock of liberal constitutions was not something the fascists alone had brought about. ‘The collapse of the Liberal state,’ says Roberto Vivarelli, ‘occurred independently of fascism.’ At the time it was tempting to see the malfunction of democratic government after 1918 as a systemic crisis marking the historic terminus of liberalism. Since the revival of constitutional democracy since World War II, it has seemed more plausible to see it as a circumstantial crisis growing out of the strains of World War I, a sudden enlargement of democracy, and the Bolshevik Revolution. However we interpret the deadlock of democratic government, no fascist movement is likely to reach office without it.”

— Robert O. Paxton, The Anatomy of Fascism

100 years on, it feels like we’re back at the start.

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Be careful of our barnacled, crusty cynicism and the cavalier rabbit hole it could lead us down — away from the longest-running success story in human rights.

Democracy works only if political leaders put the common good ahead of personal interest. There is zero evidence Trump would even be equipped to deliver on this, should the interest in it ever be made to enter his mind.

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