The Lesser Evil

Something has been bothering me since the announcement of Kamala Harris as the Democratic VP candidate. It seems that the left/progressive opposition to that ticket really skyrocketed. I am sure there is an aspect of being reminded of just how little the Democratic ticket represents our values and what we are fighting for. That is understandable. There is a lot of *extremely* valid criticism of both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris that we most definitely need to remember. Keep their records nearby. Keep those criticisms handy. We will need them later.

I also noticed that a lot of that noise seemed to come from white men. Not exclusively, and I am certainly willing to submit that this may just be a function of what I see. However, it seems a disturbing trend to see so much vitriol at a black and asian woman VP coming largely from white men. Adding Harris to the ticket doesn’t really change it all that much. Biden did what he said he would, and chose a woman as VP. We can’t be surprised he chose a black woman after the massive BLM protests this summer, that is a very Democrat thing to do, quite honestly.

As an aside to all of this, let’s make sure we keep how we refer to all the candidates consistent. If you list them as Trump, Pence, Biden, and Kamala, I am assuming sexism. If you reference them by last name, reference all of them by last name. If you reference them by first name, reference all of them by first name. If you use honorifics, use the correct ones on all of them. If you switch how you reference them between first and last, try for an even amount of both. Referring to all the men by last name and the one woman by her first name is reductive of her status and work, and entirely sexist. Do better.

Cartoon by Rick McKee

A resulting issue with this is the sudden jump I am seeing to third parties. No, I do not believe we should have just a 2 party system. We need more parties, or even no parties, and we need them to have enough pull to actually affect an election. However, what we see now is a third or fourth party candidate being put forth a few months before a big election, and always a Presidential candidate. How many people in Congress are Libertarian or Green party? What about state legislatures? Other state elected offices? Do they have anyone at local levels? Why should I trust your viability as a political party if the only candidates you ever put forth are Presidential? 

This makes me think the purpose is more about splitting votes than actually wanting to govern. Maybe that is a bit conspiracy theorist of me, but it is a concern. It gets to why I have an issue with so many people jumping to third parties 3 months before a big election. We all know that candidate does not have the exposure or attention for nearly enough people to know who they are, let alone what they stand for. They already have a slim chance of winning, and in this current election that slim line could change which of the two major candidates gets enough votes. 

I know, you have all heard before that this election is just so important. That if the wrong one gets into office our lives and our country will be utterly ruined. But I ask you, have we ever slid so far into fascism so fast before? Maybe it is hyperbolic of me, but the fear this time is visceral. The Republican National Convention actually did not write a platform this year. They merely recycled the 2016 platform, and said they “will enthusiastically support the President’s America First agenda”. This is a cult of personality, and the center is a seriously terrible personality. Getting him out of office is a pretty high priority, and less so for having a better person in the White House, but to avoid more highly conservative and alt-right judges being appointed to lifetime positions. To put actually competent people in charge of important departments. To at least slow the bleeding of crisis after crisis.

Truly, I do not expect a great deal from a Biden Presidency. He is a lifelong corporate Democrat, and I fully expect him to behave as such. I also would not be surprised if he had to spend an entire term on damage control. Harris is the same as Biden in this regard. While I look forward to seeing her wipe the debate floor with Pence, I don’t expect her to do a lot to push Biden or the Democratic party left. This is where we come back to those incredibly valid criticisms of the records of both Biden and Harris for bills they have sponsored and voted on, or work they have done in other jobs, such as prosecutor. Use them for accountability.

This is where our fight continues. With a Biden/Harris administration our demands might have a better chance of being heard. It is certainly not a guarantee, but it is also not immediately out the window as it would be otherwise. This is where we hold their feet to the fire and demand the changes we have been fighting for. This is also where all of those down-ticket elections are so incredibly important. We can push them further left by electing a progressive congress to pass the policies needed to make changes happen. 

Image from Political Dictionary

But holding those elected into office accountable is not all that needs to be done. If you want to build more political parties, start building them now. Put up candidates for local and state level positions. If you have someone you want to run for President, get their name out there when the big parties start their primaries. Make your platform clear and concise and easy to find. Fight for ranked choice voting systems in as many places as possible and fight to get your candidate, and your party on as many ballots as possible. In all levels of government. Throwing your hat in for the highest office in the land a few months before the election guarantees you a few symbolic votes, and that is it. If you truly want to make this work, broaden your vision.

There is a lot wrong with our country right now. There has been for a very long time, but this pandemic has really made the cracks stand out. This progressive movement that picked up so much steam over the summer has a great deal of work to do. There are systems we need to completely tear down and rethink. There are some we can adjust and still work with. There is a culture shift we have been working towards that we need to keep fighting for. This fight is a marathon, and sometimes we need to take a small win while we keep fighting for the bigger one. 

Unfortunately, that is where we stand with the Presidential election right now. Once again, stuck choosing the lesser of two evils. The thing is, that greater evil is not so much a matter of opinion or world view this time. That greater evil has already caused a lot of serious damage to so many people. He has set us back more than any of us imagined, and I fear the damage will worsen exponentially as time goes on. That greater evil is great enough that literal survival is brought into question for so many. 

So, for this election, consider holding your nose and voting for that lesser evil. But in doing so, resolve to keep fighting for something better. Encourage your friends to do the same. Slowing the bleeding doesn’t mean we can be complacent. It doesn’t mean we don’t do the work to heal the wound. But it does keep us alive while we gather resources and keep working. 

This election won’t bring that amazing new world we all hoped for. I think we have always known that deep down. But to get to where we want to be, we have to keep living. We have to reduce harm. We have to vote for the lesser evil, and then fight them too.