An Appeal to Any Progressives Still Left on the Fence
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There’s that scene in the movie “Contact” where Jody Foster is launched into space to pursue what lies beyond this universe.
As the thermal shield heats up and as she ascends higher and higher, her spacecraft violently thrashes from side to side, and she holds on to her seat for dear life — knowing when she breaks through the stratosphere, there will be a calm, a knowing, a peace like she’s never known before.
Jodie Foster is me; the spacecraft has been my mental state for the past 10 years in a “Trumpian” world, and the thermal shield is the 2024 election.
That I would get to vote for a woman for President in my lifetime is unthinkable, but that I would get to vote again for a woman and see her win is astronomically mind-blowing.
Women’s rights were always at the forefront of my childhood. My divorced single Mom was a closeted lefty, a scrappy entrepreneur, and a champion for the underdog — thankfully, she passed on all those qualities to me.
Around 2013, I crossed paths with the teachings of Marianne Williamson and her Progressive positions. I even attended a political event she hosted in 2014, where Bernie Sanders asked the crowd whether he should run in 2016. I went on to volunteer in his 2016 campaign.
By that point, “The Apprentice” had been running for a decade and Trump was still an anecdote. At the time, I thought it hilarious that I stayed at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas for a timeshare sales presentation. Little did I know that that investment would scam me out of thousands of dollars.
Watching Trump win the Presidency was unfathomable; I was perplexed at how people could be so duped into supporting a narcissistic con artist. But after surrendering that timeshare during the 2020 pandemic and recognizing it was a scam from the outset, I realized, like many others, I fell prey to this man’s schemes, too.
The sales pitch sounded good until the deal revealed itself as empty, performative, and complete BS — just like Trump, the “King of Grift City.”
After volunteering on both the Sanders and Williamson Presidential Campaigns in 2020, I wrote an article about Williamson that went viral. We kept in touch, and in March of 2023, I was offered a full-time paid position as a communications advisor on her 2024 Presidential Campaign team.
In retrospect, knowing I’d have a small part in getting the first woman elected President of the United States was exhilarating. However, she also carried on Bernie Sanders’ legacy, championing several Progressive policies no Democratic candidate dared to run on: reparations, free college tuition, single-payer healthcare, etc.
By that point, my disdain for Trump had skyrocketed — not only because of my being taken advantage of financially but also for his treatment of women in general.
The infantilization, the patronization, and abuse were repulsive. I couldn’t comprehend why women older than me weren’t offended. Hadn’t they fought for our generation in the Women’s Movement? I had to remind myself that back in the 1970s, referring to mature women as “girls” and reducing women to sex objects were everyday occurrences. He nor they had evolved with the times.
Still, I had had enough. Trump’s botched handling of the pandemic, the needless deaths of thousands of people, the hateful rhetoric he spewed towards Muslims, Blacks, Hispanics, the poor and disabled, and the undermining of our Democracy on January 6th was unforgivable.
I left the Williamson campaign in September of 2023 for other reasons I’m unable to disclose. But what I can say is that working on a Presidential Campaign meant one was hooked into a 24-hour news cycle. I couldn’t look at or listen to Trump without a visceral reaction of disgust for the divisive culture he’d created in our country for the last decade. His rhetoric had Hitler-esque and fascist echoes and overtones — ominous red flags.
If you’re a Progressive like me, you believe in non-violence, peace, unity and collaboration to better people’s lives, but if you’ve decided to sit the election out in protest or apathy, please hear my call to action and passionate appeal:
Clearly, there is more work to do to lift up marginalized groups and secure our basic rights as Americans. Still, if we don’t take care of the health of our Democracy and reject Trump’s racism, misogyny, and attempts to control our bodily autonomy, ALL THE PROGRESS we’ve fought for will be erased and irrelevant. Given Trump and Vance’s Project 2025 goals, anything we try to fight for in the future will be futile.
Centrism is not a dirty word this time, my fellow Progressives. Our country needs help. But let’s not take a trip to the dentist when what we really need is emergency heart surgery.
I greatly admire Kamala Harris’s conduct in grilling Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court Justice confirmation hearing. I also respect her experience, loyalty to her country, and realness. I have always considered her way too Centrist to ever vote for, though — until now.
A very high percentage of Trump’s former staff have renounced him and the “yes” men he’s surrounding himself now with are hacks, conspiracy theorists and billionaire eccentrics. There are no guardrails anymore for this twice impeached and convicted felon.
Is there corruption and waste in both parties? Yes. Is it going to feel like you’re compromising your Progressive values if you vote for Kamala Harris? Perhaps. But I encourage you to look at a vote for Kamala Harris as a strategic lateral move before our inevitable upward trajectory to the ultimate change we seek. By contrast, a vote for Trump is a million steps backward and an abysmal loss — an explosion of our uniquely American identity.
Please think of our forefathers and foremothers, all the abolitionists, the suffragettes, and the Civil Rights activists that have come before us. Let us stand on their shoulders and continue their legacy.
Vote Harris/Walz 2024 on Tuesday. Take a breath, and on Wednesday, let’s return to fighting for Progressive policies to make lasting change in this country we love.
