Max Stearns
In this post, I will make three points. First, although the long-repeated phrase “the most important election in our lifetime,“ now over three election cycles (2016, 2020, and 2024) has led some to imagine crying wolf, it is not. Second, it is vital that Kamala Harris win this election if the United States is to retain even its present status as a badly broken democracy, albeit with the hope that we can transform ourselves into a truly thriving democracy. Third, there is no inconsistency in these views with calling out so many on the progressive left for egregious misrepresentations about Israel and also appreciating the tragic horrors facing the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza, all while clinging to the hope of a brighter, peaceful future for both sides. Yes, that's asking a lot. Nothing less will do.
On crying wolf:
In the 2016 election cycle, many, including me, insisted it was the most important presidential election in our lifetime. It was. Those issuing dire warnings were correct in predicting Donald Trump would engage in egregious anti-Democratic behaviors. I do not need to recount the details of his consistently self-serving conduct as President, culminating in his attempt to subvert the peaceful transition of power for the first time in our history. That Donald Trump did not succeed after losing the 2020 election is hardly an argument in his favor. And it’s especially not so considering that he has packed the Supreme Court and obtained a decision immunizing him from liability for virtually anything he might do in a second term.
The 2020 election was also the most important election in our lifetime. That is because a second Trump term would have been, and will be, far more dangerous than the extraordinarily dangerous first Trump term. Donald Trump's defeat in that election in no way undermines the present threat of a second Trump term. We saw what he was capable of in his first term, and those who had paid any attention to Project 2025 or to his campaign rhetoric are well aware that he regards those first-term behaviors as no longer adequate to his task of ensuring he avoids any consequences for his criminal conduct or facing any inhibitions in pursuing countless personal objectives, agendas, realliances, and yes, vendettas—all clearly at odds with the interests of the United States. This is made overwhelming evident by Trump's own past top advisors and appointees so insistently warning about the threat a second Trump presidency poses. Anyone who imagines Trump isn't a threat despite such overwhelming evidence that he is, presented by those who actually spent time with him in the White House, so when he held power, is displaying unimaginable hubris.
On democracy:
Our democracy is in deep trouble. If, as I constantly hope, Donald Trump is defeated, that doesn’t solve the challenges our democracy faces. What it does is buy us time. But the only possibility of engaging in meaningful reform comes with leadership that respects the processes through which reform takes place. The ultimate question in this election has always been this: do you support democracy, or are you instead willing to support a wannabe despot because something about what he claims to stand for in this very moment might benefit you? There is no other way to characterize the stakes of this election.
In some respects the Trump era resembles the peculiar papacy, which until 2022 had two living Popes. This is unthinkable in American politics unless one goes as far back to the administration of John Adams, with his own Vice President, Thomas Jefferson, heading the party that removed him from power. Since Trump’s descent on the Trump Tower elevator to announce his candidacy, and his ascent to GOP leadership, the Republican Party hasn’t precisely tacked further and further to the right. But it has tacked further and further against democracy and core American values. It has tragically become an undeniable party of hate. Writing that doesn’t bring me pleasure. It makes me sad. But stating the truth is like that sometimes. This Republican party has espoused an undying willingness to embrace even Trump’s most egregious personal and professional behaviors and lies.
Democracies are frustrating things. They never give anybody everything they want. The Democratic Party is particularly challenged by democracy because unlike the GOP, it has never had a conceptual core. Rather it has long been an amalgam of groups pressing their disparate interests, which don’t merely fail always to align; instead, they fight against one another for prioritization over limited resources, especially money and time.
The challenge for Joe Biden as the presumptive nominee was trying to use the quest for democracy as the Democratic Party’s unifying force. Wisely or not, Kamala Harris initially subordinated that emphasis in favor of another, hoping her upbeat unity message was a better clarion call than democracy in assembling a winning coalition.
My personal concern has never centered on campaign marketing or rhetoric. It has always been about the future of the United States. In order for this nation I love to survive even as a broken democracy, it is vital that Donald Trump be defeated once and for all. I’ve spent the last five years explaining what I’m convinced we need to do to fix our broken democracy. I will spend the rest of my career fighting that good fight. But that’s not my job today. Today's job is to persuade anybody reading this that the choice in the election is the one Joe Biden initially claimed and that the Kamala Harris has come to reinvigorate. The choice is simple: Are you voting for democracy or not? There is no other way to express the magnitude of the importance of defeating Donald Trump and of electing Kamala Harris.
On Israel/Gaza:
Voting for Harris is not voting against Israel, and actually is voting for it. I get that the rhetoric on the left about Israel has often been egregious, laden with misinformation, even outright lies. I have experienced this personally as have family and friends. There is a stunning willingness, always, to condemn the behaviors on the other side of the political aisle, but never your own.
I'm beyond exhausted by those on the political right so willing to condemn anti-Israelism and anti-Semitism on the left while simply ignoring Donald Trump’s never ending willingness to condone the most vile elements of his base, including those willing to embrace and avow anti-Semitism.
It's quite easy to locate images of Trump supporters bearing swastikas alongside Trump flags, all just a few clicks away. Then there's the Charlottesville rally. The fact is that Donald Trump will do whatever he can to gain and maintain power. That includes denigrating women, Blacks, Haitians, Latinos, Muslims, and anyone else who he somehow imagines must be harmed for him to succeed. (A special plea to Muslims considering not voting Harris--please research the Muslim ban that helped elect Trump in 2016). Anyone who thinks that Jews are permanently exempt from such hatred are overlooking that Trump has made plain that he'll blame Jews who opposed him for his defeat.
Compare Kamala Harris. A core part of her constituency, so often based on problematic misinformation, insistently claims Israel is engaging in apartheid, colonialism, and genocide. I will not detail my personal trip to the Hamas attack sites in Israel and my meetings with Israeli government officials and academic leaders. And yes, I'll be the first to concede that there's much to criticize about Israel and Netanyahu, which I've personally never hesitated to do. Even so, I have been, and remain, troubled by the stunning lack of curiosity and unwillingness to investigate, rather than to always accept as true whatever conveniently fits one's comforting narrative.
For now I will make a far narrower point, coming back to who Kamala Harris has revealed herself to be. I do not love all of her campaign rhetoric. Despite considerable contrary pressures by a frankly small but loud part of her base, Harris has made eminently clear she has not, and will not, abandon Israel. Instead, she has remained steadfast in her support.
As I said, it is hard to be a Democrat, especially one aspiring to the presidency. But I have always understood that her rhetoric and her policies don’t always precisely align. Rather than criticize her for that, I understand its motivation. The threat to democracy is simply too great to risk alienating key parts of her base. Even so, Harris has never once in the entirety of her career supported a policy that put Israel’s defense at risk. Trump supporters should know that isn’t true of JD Vance, who was unwilling to support aid for Israel during this very war because it was tied to aid for Ukraine. Who joined Vance in that position? Not Kamala Harris. But yes, Bernie Sanders! Think about that. Of course nobody on the Trump side points that out.
Harris has made clear, again and again, her commitment to Israel’s defense. She has made plain that she is troubled by the number of deaths in Gaza. Any decent human being should be troubled by the number of deaths in Gaza. Of course that begs the question where the blame principally lies. Nothing is ever as simple as what appears in a meme or protest sign.
Kamala Harris will not be the first president to support Israel despite strong disagreements with Bibi Netanyahu. Israel will not be threatened in any way, shape, or form by Kamala Harris presidency. Quite the contrary. But if Trump is elected, United States democratic institutions will be threatened, even to the breaking point.
Here’s the hardest lesson of all. In order for a democracy to function, citizens must hold faith that for the things that matter most to them, legitimate institutions will allow them to express themselves in the quest for support. Even if we were to assume that Donald Trump genuinely cared about Israel and Jews, he is the most fickle of lovers. Everyone who ever interacted with him knows that Donald Trump ultimately cares only about Donald Trump.
Donald Trump is immune to considerations of democratic participation because he doesn’t believe in democracy. He wants the United States to become an extension of his closely held private company. There he can easily control, manipulate, and lie. In that setting, subordinates have no choice but to go along or leave.
We can’t leave. We live here. So the final call, the final question, at the end of the day, is are you willing to support that man because there’s something in him that you think benefits you? Or do you have sufficient confidence in your own intellectual capacity and agency, and in those with whom you align, to imagine that you can persuade others in the rough and tumble of democracy because you are confident your vision is superior to those with whom you disagree?
Perhaps the greatest irony in all of this is that those supporting Donald Trump because of the strength they imagine he exhibits are instead displaying their personal fecklessness and weakness. This is the most important election in our lifetime. It is time to wake up, empower yourselves, and realize that there is one job to do. That job is absolutely to elect Kamala Harris, putting Donald Trump where he belongs, in the historical dustbin of so many tragically failed leaders.
Please no comments on this post on the blog itself, but you are otherwise welcome to reach out to me.
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