Today Is The Day
Go vote. Remind a friend. Let's finally put a woman -- THIS woman -- in the White House.
Today, dear readers, is the day Americans have the chance to elect our first female president: Kamala Devi Harris.
Harris is a competent, brilliant, and dynamic politician, lawyer, former senator, and current vice president. She is more than qualified for the job, and is far more qualified β intellectually, temperamentally, cognitively β than her opponent. Her run is historic, and her election would be tectonic. As the always-excellent Rebecca Traister put it, her campaign is the culmination of βan imaginative project that remains close to the heart of millions: doubling the size of the pool from which we fish for our presidents.β
Harris has explicitly refused to run as a woman, or to make her identity central to her campaign. Itβs there; itβs obvious; itβs exciting to many voters and appalling to others (I fall in the βequal parts excited and fearfulβ camp). No one thinks that representation is everything, or that βthere should be a woman in the White Houseβ means that there should be any woman in the White House. But this woman? This woman should be in the White House.
She is the better candidate. She will make the better president. She was already the first female vice president (and the first person who wasnβt a white guy). She is more progressive than her predecessor, and more persuadable on the issues that matter most. She is a lifelong feminist and a career-long supporter of abortion and womenβs rights. She has run an incredibly impressive campaign that has been fueled, unpredictably, by unfettered joy and a thunderous call for freedom. Letβs make American fun again. Letβs put Harris in the Oval Office.
Electing Harris will not solve gender inequality. But it will end two centuries of exclusively male rule in America. And that really is something.
No, Harris is not a perfect candidate (who is?). I hope youβll see the case for her even despite her flaws.
And her opponent is not simply flawed: He is dangerous, incompetent, and hateful. A Trump presidency guarantees significant suffering, especially of immigrants, of women, and of vulnerable groups at home and overseas. A Trump presidency would be a disaster.
Hereβs a final bit of motivation courtesy of Forward Midwifery DC and Martha Wainwright, the queen of shaming all the bloody motherfucking assholes out there:
Vote. Remind a friend to vote. Remember all thatβs at stake.
Iβll be staying tuned right here with youβ¦
xx Jill
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Thank you for this!