Former Vice President Mike Pence has said that former President Donald Trump “[put] himself over the Constitution.” General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the Trump administration, has said that the former president is “fascist to his core” and “the most dangerous person to this country.” General John Kelly, once Trump’s White House Chief of Staff, has said that the former president is “the most flawed person” he’s ever known and has dictatorial tendencies. General James Mattis, one of Trump’s Secretaries of Defense, said that Trump “[makes] a mockery of our Constitution.” Mark Esper, another Secretary of Defense under Trump, said that the former president is “irresponsible” and has fascist “inclinations.”
Before debating the merits of each candidate’s policy agenda, we must first acknowledge the unique disregard Trump has shown for our longstanding norms and institutions. He called for a “termination” of constitutional provisions to overthrow “false and fraudulent elections.” In unprecedented fashion, he rejected the results of the 2020 election and oversaw a months-long effort to overturn its outcome, culminating in a violent attack on our nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 (which he recently deemed a “day of love” and whose perpetrators he plans to pardon). It’s why — in a truly historic development — Trump lacks the support of his old running mate.
With any other presidential candidate, the damning testimonials of former administration officials and the continuous rejection of democratic principles would be wholly disqualifying. That’s not to mention that Trump has been found liable for sexual assault and found guilty of 34 criminal counts for falsifying business records. However, this election is about more than litigating personalities; it’s also about the future direction of our country. Penn students deserve a substantive case to vote for the vice president based on some of the most pressing policy matters, and that is what we intend to articulate.
In the aftermath of COVID-19, the global economy has struggled immensely. Inflation across sectors has increased the price of groceries, gas, and housing, raising the cost of living for the average American. If elected, Vice President Kamala Harris has pledged to address these concerns. She plans to enact an expanded child tax credit to give new parents a $6,000 tax cut in the first year of their child’s life. She will increase the tax incentive for small business founders from $5,000 to $50,000. She intends to implement $25,000 in assistance to first-time home buyers. She promises to build three million new homes by the end of her first term, increasing the housing supply and decreasing the price. On the other hand, the foundation of Trump’s economic vision is further tax cuts for corporations and the ultra-wealthy and exorbitant tariffs on imports.
In 2022, a decades-long conservative project came to fruition in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning the landmark decision in Roe v. Wade. It was made possible purely due to the outcome of the 2016 election and Trump’s appointment of three conservative justices. Ever since, states across the country have restricted a woman’s ability to seek reproductive healthcare. Women have faced life-threatening consequences as a result, like those who have been denied care after a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy, and must wait until their life is in jeopardy to receive it. If Harris is elected, she will sign into law the codification of Roe, restoring the right of bodily autonomy in the United States. With another Trump presidency, we are rolling the dice on a national abortion ban. After all, this is a candidate who once said women ought to experience “some form of punishment” for abortion procedures.
An under-discussed issue at stake this November is climate change, which has ruthlessly manifested itself in recent hurricanes down south. In Harris, there is a candidate who cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the largest investment to combat climate change in human history. The Biden-Harris administration re-entered the Paris Climate Accords — an agreement to lower international carbon emissions — on day one (after a certain former president backed out). If elected, a President Harris would continue to fight for a clean energy economy while ensuring America’s energy independence. Conversely, Trump disputes the near-unanimous consensus of climate scientists that global climate change is even an issue worth addressing! He has said that the phenomenon is a Chinese-manufactured “hoax” that will yield us “more oceanfront property.” His directors of the Environment Protection Agency included an ex-coal lobbyist and climate deniers. Everywhere else in the Western world, such extremism on climate change would not be tolerated in a major party candidate.
On immigration, Harris supports the bipartisan border deal proposed earlier this year. Negotiated by Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma, the bill would have added 4,300 asylum officers to process claims more efficiently, provided funding for 100 additional immigration judges to address the backlog of cases, and increased resources to stop the importation of fentanyl across the southern border. While gaining momentum, the bill’s progress was abruptly halted after Trump called Republican leaders in the House and Senate. His message? “Drop the bill; I need the problem.” Even though border crossings are now lower than they were at the end of Trump’s first term, he continues to exploit the issue for electoral gain. Furthermore, Trump has a long history of insulting immigrants and using them as a scapegoat. In the past year, he has said that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” and are genetically predisposed to commit murder.
On LGBTQ+ rights, the contrast could not be more clear. In 2004, as district attorney of San Francisco, Harris officiated some of California’s first same-sex marriages. She supports the Equality Act to guarantee freedoms, regardless of sexuality or gender identity, for all Americans. During his first year in office, Trump banned transgender Americans from the military, a policy reversed by the Biden-Harris administration. With his appointment of additional conservatives to the judiciary, the threat of overturning Obergefell v. Hodges — the case that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide — would grow significantly, as Justice Clarence Thomas has already expressed interest in doing so.
On the scourge of gun violence, an issue our generation knows far too much about, Harris has been a leader in the fight for common-sense gun reform. She supports universal background checks, red flag laws, and a ban on assault weapons. The Biden-Harris administration oversaw the passage of the first major federal gun safety law in 28 years (the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act). Trump opposes any effort to enact gun control legislation and believes arming teachers is the solution to school shootings. In June, his hand-picked Supreme Court justices overturned the federal ban on bump stocks — devices that enable semi-automatic weapons to fire like machine guns.
With eyes toward Nov. 5, this piece is not intended to depict Harris as a perfect candidate or some panacea to all of America’s ills. There are plenty of legitimate criticisms to be made across a variety of issues. There are, however, by the nature of American electoral politics, only two candidates in this race with a viable chance of becoming president. One whose closest advisors say is dangerous and unfit, who refuses to abide by democratic norms, who is responsible for widespread restrictions of reproductive healthcare, who vows to implement inflationary tariffs and a mass deportation force, who inspires hatred against vulnerable populations of all kinds, and who rejects the very existence of climate change. Alternatively, there is a candidate who will acknowledge the election’s results regardless of the outcome, who will re-establish bodily autonomy as a fundamental right, who will build an “opportunity economy” that elevates the middle class, who will work toward a common-sense immigration system, who will combat climate change and protect the LGBTQ+ community.
Penn students: in what is likely the most pivotal election of our lives, we choose the latter. With hope and urgency, we encourage you to do the same.
PENN DEMOCRATS is a student-run political organization dedicated to promoting progressive values on and off campus. For more information, please visit penndems.org. They can be reached at presidentpenndems@gmail.com.
Penn Democrats Executive Board:
Ellie Goluboff-Schragger
Veronica Smith
Lucas Eisen
Declan Brady
Camille Legnani
Steve Yang
Selma Farsakh
Alexandra Kanan-McPhee
Eunho Jung
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