In the past month, the election news cycle has gone a bit crazy with the assassination attempt on Trump and Biden stepping aside. It's as if Trump was declared the next President just because he survived an assassination attempt. I'm glad he survived because the last thing we need is for him to be a martyr. His followers already treat him like the second coming, buying his autographed Bibles and other ridiculous antics like wearing bandages over their ears.
As for Biden, I'll admit that I was okay with how he was handling his position until he gave full throated support to Benjamin Netanyahu, providing arms and funding to kill Palestinian civilians (over 39 thousand currently). I don't care if he stutters and has verbal gaffes as long as his Administration gets the job done. The Biden Administration passed infrastructure, capped insulin, formed an Office of Gun Violence Prevention, drafted a new anti-redlining framework, etc. It's not his age that turned me and many other voters off. It was his stubborn support of Netanyahu. Sure, he's starting to realize how out-of-control Netanyahu is, but it's kind of "too little too late." To me, his support of Netanyahu is akin to FDR's imprisonment of Japanese Americans during WWII. A lot of people will think Biden was great just like they remember FDR, but they both have stains on their records.
Perhaps the poor debate performance is what finally tipped the scales for establishment Democratic leaders to nudge him out... but what many still fail to realize is that there has to be a real change in policy for the younger voters to care. There needs to be a permanent cease fire, or at least a cessation of U.S. arms and funding to Israel. The George Floyd Act needs to be passed as more Black people like Sonya Massey continue to be needlessly killed by police officers. The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act (crimes against mostly AAPI) was passed, but I have to wonder why it's taking so long to pass the George Floyd Act. It is way past time for this. The cynic in me believes that passing the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act was just another way to make AAPI the "Model Minority" again - to pit groups against each other.
Now on to Kamala Harris... As I told some of my friends, many young people just see her as another cop who imprisoned a lot of POC. I read a few old articles and found out she grew up in Berkeley and her mom was an activist. She first went into law because her high school friend was being molested and her Mom took the friend in. So I believe she went into it with the right motives - to get the molesters, fraudsters, etc. And that's probably why Trump can't stand her - because he knows he can't fool her. So what do some of the Trump followers do? They start saying she's a DEI hire, or that she slept her way to the top, etc. It's as if they've forgotten how Trump was born to money and admittedly "grabbed them by the pussy."
Can she beat Trump? Maybe. I am cautiously optimistic, but I am well aware that there are many Americans that are just as misogynistic and xenophobic as Trump. He is just their mouthpiece. Before Biden stepped aside, I figured I could vote my conscience with Cornel West because California will go blue no matter what. But if I lived in a swing state, I would probably vote blue just to keep Trump out of office. I hate the electoral college because it's like I get no say in Presidential elections. They only care about people in the swing states, and that really sucks. So for anybody out there who lives in a swing state, I'm hoping you won't vote for Trump because I can see our rights going down the tubes with the likes of Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene, JD Vance, etc. Americans are like the parent on an airplane going down - you need to put on your oxygen mask before helping others. Likewise, you and I may not like Harris' position on Gaza (although I'm hearing she's more sympathetic to the Palestinians), but we can't help anybody if our own citizenry keeps spiraling down. There are some folks that think we have to hit rock bottom before we can turn it around, and they may be right. But I grew up during the Civil Rights era, and I don't want to let those past heroes' efforts go to waste if I can help it.
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