Biden is out. Freedom must win.

A few thoughts on defeating the most obvious threat to democracy in American history.

I’ve always been more “Let’s just kick the fascists' asses” than “Blue no matter who.”

But I will obviously support anyone Democrats nominate over Donald Trump. That’s the easiest choice of my life that doesn’t involve waffle fries. 

When it all comes down to it, I’m a single-issue voter. My issue is that I’d like to keep voting. And a voter for an aspiring dictator backed by the world’s greediest fascists and oligarchs and enabled by a stolen and broken Republican Supreme Court is a vote for your vote never to matter again.

With the glaring exception of Gaza, where the DC consensus works 365/12/7/24 to drive any sense away, Joe Biden is the best president of my lifetime. His administration has been top-notch, especially in the Federal Trade Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Department of Labor. He brought us from the worst layoffs in American history to the best job market Americans have ever experienced. He’s done more to fight climate change than any human on earth. Uniting the world around Ukraine without provoking a larger war is a colossal feat, which, like his other feats, will be erased almost entirely if Donald Trump wins.

1. It should be Kamala.
Let’s not be ridiculous. Her job exists solely to replace the president of the United States. She’s far more qualified than either of the Republican nominees, and you don’t kick aside the first African-American and first woman ever elected on a national ticket unless you have better reasons than it seems fun and you like someone else slightly more. Millions and millions of voters nominated her this year. She’s the nominee. But since anything can happen in 2024, and we’re all huffing TikTok-flavored gummies, I get that there will be a serious effort to dispute the basic logic of just putting her in the game. Anyone advocating against her instant nomination better have some stellar arguments or risk a stink that will be hard to shed.

2. Give now, if you can.
We know that Donald Trump will get millions fewer votes than Kamala or any nominee. But this race, like four out of the five last presidential races, will still be decided by shreds of a percentage point in five or six states. Give to Harris if you want to solidify her candidacy. But I beg you to think down ballot where “reverse coattails” could decide this election. That could be States Project, Run for Something, your favorites, Blue Ohio, or our Flipping Arizona Giving Circle. If you were planning to give, now’s the time to do it. Everyone could use the confidence.

3. America will not elect the guy who single-handedly ended Roe.
And they definitely will not elect the same guy as he’s planning to act as if every fetus has 14th amendment rights, as the GOP platform states, which means he’ll use every lever of the federal government to ban abortion–not by passing a ban but by regulating abortion out of existence, the way they effectively did in Mississippi and other states before Dobbs. The caveat here is Americans might elect the clown who did and will do these things if we don’t make the race about freedom and the freedom that Donald Trump stole from us. And Kamala Harris is the perfect person to make this race full-throatily about abortion rights for anyone who can get pregnant and equal rights for all.

That’s it. Thanks for all you have and will do. And please join earlyworm because we’re working full-time to make sure we leave 2024 with no regrets. And we can only do it together.

And always take the waffle fries.