I don’t think it’s reasonable at all to say that Trump would somehow be less bad on Palestine than Harris., so I think we can say Trump will be at least as bad on that issue. For the sake of argument, I’ll be willing to accept an “equally bad” framing on that one particular issue.
But Harris isn’t going to enable the genocide of LGBTQ+ Americans, the genocide of Ukrainians, the subjugation and killing (through medical neglect) of a huge number of women, etc. etc. etc.
So even the strongest argument for “Harris is just as bad” that I can view as anywhere even remotely reasonable falls massively short. Trump is going to enable far more genocide than Harris, and I cannot see any reasonable argument that views it even as a trade-off of what bad things are going to happen, because as far as I can tell literally everything that’s bad about Harris (and there is plenty), if Trump winds up back in office it’ll be as bad or even worse. And there simply isn’t a third option.
Sounds reasonable. I think when people discuss this theres a lot of talking past each other. I think progressives see an opportunity to play chicken with supporting Harris until she gives us something for it. Some progressives will go all the way and not vote for any candidate, and some will cave at the last minute because of the dynamic you described. But just giving up now and voting for her while she is doing something we hate is a waste of a good crisis. I’d also like to see the DNC coem up short looking for votes from the middle, which seems inevitable to me. Good civil chat, thanks.
As much as I want them to move, I cannot endorse wanting them to come up short because the alternative is so catastrophic. I do, however, truly believe that if we can marginalise the Republican party we can move Democrats somewhat to the left, which is my medium term electoral strategy while working towards a long term where we can actually get real leftists in power.
It’s not just that Harris is going to do things we hate. It’s that Trump is going to do all those same things and more, and playing electoral chicken with the Democrats is quite literally risking the lives of many of my friends.
I get that. Bu if you could just hold off on voting till election day, she might change her position out of desperation.
