OPINION: Far-left opposition to Kamala Harris is disingenuous and performative
Photo via: Matt Johnson/Public domain/Wikimedia Commons
On Nov. 8, 2016, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States by narrowly beating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the three “blue wall” states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Trump won in Michigan by 10,704 votes, Wisconsin by 22,748 votes and Pennsylvania by 44,292 votes. In the days following the election, furor among Democrats arose toward Green Party nominee Jill Stein, and for good reason. Stein only received 1.07% of all votes cast in the election, but the number of votes she got in the three “blue wall” states exceeded Trump’s margin of victory, thus costing Hillary Clinton the election. Stein got 51,463 votes in Michigan, 31,072 votes in Wisconsin and 49,941 votes in Pennsylvania.
Because 132,476 voters in three states couldn’t be bothered to recognize the unique threat Trump posed and vote for Clinton, America suffered. Instead of having a calm, level-headed, intelligent commander-in-chief when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we had a raging lunatic who spewed misinformation and rejected factual scientific advice, leaving the country in a terrible spot when President Joe Biden took over in 2021. Trump also reshaped the role of the judiciary by stacking the federal courts with a historic number of right-wing judges. This included the addition of three extremely conservative justices to the Supreme Court, who unsurprisingly overturned Roe v. Wade and stripped tens of millions of American women of fundamental healthcare rights.
Trump is running for president again and he has a good chance of winning. If he wins, he has promised to act like a dictator so he can implement a devastating far-right agenda. In a sane nation, the threat of a second Trump term would be enough to convince leftists to roll up their sleeves and cast their ballots for Vice President Kamala Harris out of duty to their country.
Nothing can be that simple in America, however. While the number of leftists opposing Harris is very small overall, it is likely far more than enough to make the difference in this election. Recent polling in key swing states such as Pennsylvania shows a very tight race.
Is Harris a perfect candidate? No, she isn’t. But our choices in this election are Harris and Trump. Harris, as Vice President, has played a key role in passing and implementing various progressive policies such as codifying gay marriage, expanding healthcare for hundreds of thousands of veterans and making historic investments in infrastructure. She’s a caring, compassionate person and has been a tireless advocate for middle-class families.
Contrast that with Trump: a cruel, unstable, bigoted man who failed our country in countless ways during his first term as president and would be even worse during a second. Despite his false denials, Trump is all-in on implementing his dangerous Project 2025 agenda that would wreak havoc on America.
Americans have the right to vote for whoever they want to, but with so much at stake, I cannot fathom why any person would cast their ballot for anyone other than Harris or Trump. Votes for Harris or Trump are the only votes that will end up mattering. This is especially true for people well to the left who know Trump was an awful president and will do even more awful things if elected in November. Meanwhile, the Biden-Harris administration has an impressive track record of progressive accomplishments that progressives can’t ignore.
Maybe the ideas being proposed by Stein and the Green Party sound better to leftists, but they aren’t realistic. Anyone even considering casting a ballot for Stein should think long and hard before doing so. Stein will not be the next President of the United States, and casting a ballot for her is a completely meaningless act of performative activism that will do more harm than good.
It seems that a big reason Stein gets a decent chunk of support from leftists is her very pro-Palestine stance. After all, unlike Harris, she has outright labeled Israel’s actions in Gaza as constituting genocide. With such a strong statement on Israel’s actions, surely Stein has a track record of standing up for human rights around the globe, right?
The interesting thing about that is, while Stein has no problem calling Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal, she is unable to call Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or Russian President Vladimir Putin the same. Perhaps she doesn’t actually care about human rights in general and is only so outspoken about Palestine because Israel is involved. The best evidence to support this notion are Stein’s own pro-Russia stances and concerning ties to the Kremlin.
But, Stein’s stance on Palestine doesn’t actually matter because, again, there is zero chance she will be our next president. On the other hand, Harris, who does have a chance to be our next president, has repeatedly called for a ceasefire and has upset Netanyahu with some of her comments about the war. Netanyahu himself clearly hopes Trump will win. Unfortunately, because Harris has also rightfully pledged to support Israel’s right to exist and defend itself from Hamas and Hezbollah, she is seen as an evil person by many leftists.
More importantly, this election isn’t just about Palestine. There are millions of people in this country who will actually suffer if Trump wins. Along with his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, Trump continues to lie about the actions of legal Haitian migrants in Ohio to incite hatred that he knows will mobilize his base. This is just a small, harrowing preview of what this country will get if he is elected.
Stein is not worth your vote, and she isn’t even deserving of your vote. Use logic, vote for Harris.
