By Lisa Senecal
America’s two major political parties have their official nominees.
And for all the differences between the Harris-Walz Democratic ticket and the Trump-Vance Republican (Putin-approved) ticket, we are hearing a common theme from both campaigns:
“This is the most important election of our lives, and losing would mean America as we know it will not continue.”
It’s a little more complicated than that - and it’s also really not so complicated at all.
If Kamala Harris and Tim Walz win, democracy will continue. That’s a good thing and means change and progress will continue because change is a healthy constant in a democracy. That change isn’t always easy - because change never is, but we have messily made our way through more than 200 years, and if you look at how it started and how it’s going - we’re making progress - we’re a more perfect union, but far from perfection.
And it’s in that “how it started” versus “how it’s going” question that the GOP and the right-wingers get stuck. They’re stuck because they’re scared, though we know that being a party of manly men doing manly things, they can never admit that they’re terrified of the future. They’re terrified of change.
The right and the Republican Party look at the “how it started” part and think that looks pretty great. Fewer people were educated, so fewer people had power. There was a whole lot less freedom being handed out, and far fewer people had rights. In fact, the people with rights were wealthy, white, and male. Black people couldn’t vote. Women couldn’t vote. Women and people of color were subjugated to more subservient roles in part through the denial of access to financial resources, and that was all enshrined either in laws or traditions. When you hear the right talk about "American traditions," or "traditional American values," these discriminatory traditions are among their favorites and those they most long to return to.
Today’s GOP is all about purity or being purged from the party if your beliefs aren’t sufficiently MAGA and in service of one man - Donald Trump. But Trump is only today’s figurehead. The GOP is far more corrupt, lost, and wandering in the wilderness than anything caused by Trump. The party has allowed itself to become a fascist movement. Members of the party encouraged, enabled, or, at the very least, watched it happen and said and did nothing. Most in elected office still stay silent about what the party has become. There are rare and important exceptions - those who have publicly left the party and now fight against Trump and other putting country over party and are supporting the Harris-Walz ticket. Perhaps they can help other find where they misplaced their own courage, morals, and patriotism.
But the sad reality is that most in the GOP are on board with the destruction of the rule of law, free and fair elections, America as a beacon of hope around the world. Joining this autocratic movement isn't something that happened to them - each had a moment when they made the decision to abandon what they had long-claimed to believe. They knew it was wrong. They know many of their fellow Americans and those seeking refuge in America would be hurt. The fact is, the GOP looked at the changing American and realized that the “how it started” image only remained in their heads and was doomed by demographics.
Their solution? Get rid of democracy. Minority control. In Trump’s hands, a Christo-fascist dictatorship, and we have their dictatorship owner’s manual to prove it: Project 2025. Because if you’re not inviting a more diverse group of people into your tent, then, well, democracy doesn’t really work for you anymore. It’s just numbers. The Republican Party has decided it doesn’t work for them.
No matter how they try to dress it up, the end of democracy as we know it is their goal, and not only at the federal level. In Republican-controlled states, in state house after state house now, GOP efforts to go back to "how it started" are in full, terrible swing, and will won't stop with Trump's defeat. And if Trump wins they’ll with lightning speed to enact legislation that will upend America democracy for generations - and possibly forever. Trump has made it clear he has no plans of giving the people’s house back to the people if he gets in there again.
The Harris-Walz campaign isn’t afraid of change because it is far from being afraid of what the American people will do if given more freedom; they’re excited about the progress we can all make together. It's about welcoming diversity in all its forms - religion, race, gender, country of origin, even political party because freedom, progress, and democracy must transcend partisan politics.
We don’t vote for people because we think they’re perfect. There are no perfect people. We don't vote because we believe one election will magically erase all of America's challenges. We engage, we vote, we fight, we strive to do better because we're citizens in a democracy. It is our duty to our country, ourselves, to one another, and to the future. Participating in our democracy is our right - but one that was not freely given to every American and it's clear now that it's not one we can expect to keep unless we're doing the work. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz winning in November means that democracy stands and Americans continue to have the power to create our future - a union that can continue to become a little more perfect.
