Getting off the Fence
Dear Leading Ladies,
The Leading Ladies Executive Committee is endorsing Kamala Harris for president of the United States.
Since its inception more than four years ago, Leading Ladies has remained nonpartisan in terms of political candidates. We have never endorsed a specific candidate or party, though we have loudly and boldly endorsed particular issues and points of view.
We have always stated our support for a woman’s right to choose; the necessity for common sense gun control laws; humane immigration laws and practices; equal access for all children to quality education; equal access to quality health care for all people; an end to institutional racism and discrimination of all kinds because of people’s sexual identity, religion, ethnicity, race, physical or mental disability; an end to housing and food insecurity in the richest country in the world; and a closing of the wealth gap by efforts to make home ownership more possible for all.
As we consider the candidates for the presidency this year, there is only one candidate who consistently and believably supports the same goals and values we hold dear, and that is Kamala Harris.
The other candidate, Donald Trump, brags about overturning Roe v. Wade, thus making abortion nearly impossible for thousands of women in the United States, many of them victims fo rape and incest, others carrying embryos with mortal illnesses. He calls immigrants despicable names, makes fun of people with disabilities, promises tax cuts for the wealthy, and considers autocrats around the globe his friends and compatriots. To garner support, he gaslights voters and claims he is actually their champion in matters of race and economics, though the facts make his true intentions clear.
On the issues alone, Leading Ladies feels compelled to publicly endorse Kamala Harris.
But there is the other matter: Trump’s unfitness to serve as president. Eight years ago, we may have opposed him merely on the basis of issues; today, we also oppose him because he has come unraveled. He makes little sense when he speaks; he rambles, can’t stay on subject, and is often incoherent. He has already politicized the Supreme Court and he threatens to undo our constitution. A second Trump administration risks more than policies that offend us. It threatens the very future of our country. As Jamelle Bouie wrote in last Sunday’s New York Times, “...if Trump has had a single consistent message, it is that he will use the violent arm of the state to cleanse the nation of ‘scum’ and ‘vermin’, whether immigrants and refugees or dissenters and political opponents like Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi.” Most recently, he has threatened to invoke the Enemy Aliens Act of 1798 to remove immigrants, an act that does not distinguish between legal and illegal aliens because that distinction did not exist at the time, according to Bouie.
Therese just returned from a trip to Amsterdam where she visited Anne Frank’s house and emerged with a strong visceral reaction. She told her group’s Dutch guide that “this, the horrors of the Holocaust/fascist occupation is what Trump wants for America. Deport immigrants, legal and illegal, like the Roma; persecute homosexuals, Jews, non-evangelicals; deny basic human rights to all women; and take revenge on all opponents. He created ‘camps’ at the southern border; separated children from parents, the very definition of genocide.”
Walking through the Frank house, Therese felt in her bones that if Americans want to be on the right side of history, we must vote against autocracy, discrimination, inequality, and hate. We must vote for fairness and equity, decency and opportunity. And truth. Because the truth is that immigrants are not taking our jobs or killing our children. The rise of the middle class will help, not hurt, our economy. More taxes on the very wealthy doesn’t mean we are becoming Communists. And a woman’s right to choose does not force anyone to endorse abortion as the correct decision for themselves. It only allows the decision to be theirs and theirs alone.
We have less than two weeks to go. We must keep having tough conversations with friends, relatives, and others we encounter. We all need to take a stand. Our votes count and what we do does, too. Everything counts.
So much is at stake.
Therese (she/her/hers)
Judy (she/her/hers)
Didi (she/her/hers)
Leading Ladies Executive Team