100 Reasons I Voted for Harris and Walz

This is not primarily a political blog. I sometimes get political in my non-Bowie related Friday posts (this week, I’m swapping Friday out for today), and since the topic of politics eventually intersects with topics related to Bowie, politics comes up occasionally in some of my Bowie posts, too. I doubt anything I post here will change anyone’s mind about who to vote for, or that too many people will even read this. But I’ve been struck by the decisions made not to issue presidential endorsements by the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times and don’t want to behave the same way. They, too, probably wouldn’t directly influence many voters to change how they would otherwise make up their minds. But in staying silent, the two papers seemed to have given in to cowardice or worse. But the point of this post is not to go through all the reasons their decisions were wrong. Instead, I am going to list out 100 reasons why I voted for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for president and vice president. Some of these reasons are meant to be funny, but they are all true. And yes, I can easily list out more reasons. And yes, you will notice that other than this sentence you are reading right now, the rest of this post does not include the words “Donald Trump”:

I voted for Harris and Walz because they…

1. Are pro-Democracy
2. Really mean it when they pledge to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution
3. Recognize that climate change is a crisis
4. Support the rule of law
5. Support NATO and the post-World War II western world order
6. Are government professionals with great records
7. Will appoint government professionals
8. Will preserve the civil service
9. Are not traitors
10. Are not convicts
11. Are pro-choice
12. Don’t hate people who are gay, straight, trans, black, brown, white, of Asian ancestry, Native American, disabled, of any particular religion (or no religion), veterans, active-duty military (who they don’t think of as suckers and losers), law enforcement (including the FBI and Capitol Police), judges, the old, the young, people my age, me, pregnant people, people who had abortions, men, women, the nonbinary, people born here, born there, born anywhere else or pretty much any type of fellow human being…even Republicans.
13. Are against coups, never fomented a coup and won’t pardon anyone who has been convicted in participating in a coup
14. Are capable stewards of the economy (you do know that the US has the strongest economy in the word, right?)
15. View Xi Jinping (China), Vladimir Putin (Russia), Kim Jong-un (North Korea), Mohammed bin Salman (Saudi Arabia), Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (Egypt), Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkey), Viktor Orban (Hungary) and other autocrats as rivals of the United States, not role models
16. Will never, ever salute one of those guys’ generals
17. Support Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression
18. Specifically don’t agree that Putin should be able to do “whatever the Hell he wants” in Europe
19. Helped get us out of the chaos of four years ago and are committed to not going back
20. Are empiricists who base their decisions in science, math and evidence.
21. Understand that Biden won in 2020
22. Are against Project 2025
23. Do not agree with the unitary executive theory
24. View disinformation as a bad thing
25. Have never been found, in a court of law to have sexually assaulted anyone
26. Did not steal classified materials and refuse to give them back
27. Did not and will not ask foreign leaders to do them a favor by announcing investigations into their political rivals or withhold military aid for not doing so
28. Oppose and are opposed by Nazis, fascists, autocrats, kleptocrats and mafia states
29. Don’t think that America is a garbage can
30. Don’t think Puerto Rico is an island of garbage, and would never invite someone to one of their events who would say that
31. Oppose broad tariffs and have no interest in starting a trade war
32. Are opposed to and opposed by QAnon
33. Won’t unduly pressure the Federal Reserve
34. Won’t use the Insurrection Act, law enforcement, the National Guard, the military, the IRS or other powers of government or the bully pulpit to go after their political rivals
35. Will nominate good judges and ignore the Federalist Society
36. Recognize that the Attorney General works for the United States, not the person of the president
37. Don’t think that the Vice President has the power to choose the president
38. Will not take advantage of the newly created “presidential immunity” from criminal prosecution
39. Support renewable energy and a clean energy future.
40. Accept the lessons of the Enlightenment and not “the Dark Enlightenment” (Google that term and “J.D. Vance)
41. Don’t create childish and insulting nicknames for people they don’t like
42. Will not try to shut down media outlets that are critical of them
43. Do not pledge mass deportation or the creation of concentration camps
44. Do not demand that you disbelieve things you see with your own eyes or personally experienced
45. Do not encourage police violence
46. Actually, do not encourage or glorify any type of violence
47. Are of sound mind, body and temperament
48. Have never suggested that they would like to “date” their own children
49. Back affordable healthcare and believe it’s a right, not a privilege.
50. Support raising the minimum wage.
51. Support gun safety laws and are opposed by the NRA.
52. Are committed to protecting Social Security and Medicare, won’t attempt to privatize them, and for that matter won’t attempt to privatize the VA, either.
53. Are not frauds and have never been convinced of fraud, do pay their bills and do respect their employees
54. Don’t think Hitler did some good things, or that there are fine people on both sides
55. Support Israel’s right to exist and defend itself, but will never refer to Israel as “your country” to American Jews
56. Advocate for affordable childcare options.
57. Want to expand rural broadband access.
58. Support equal pay for equal work.
59. Support expanding voting rights.
60. Don’t think of the term “strongman” as a good thing
61. Promote affordable prescription drug prices.
62. Support modernizing our electric grid.
63. Support school safety without arming teachers.
64. Stand against hate crimes.
65. Are for net neutrality and a free and open internet.
66. Are committed to the Paris Climate Agreement.
67. Will not shove world leaders, even leaders of small countries
68. Want to reduce the influence of dark money in politics.
69. Stand for diversity and inclusion in workplaces.
70. Support sustainable development.
71. Support diplomacy and coalition-building with allies.
72. Have better things to talk about than sharks, Hannibal Lecter or Arnold Palmer’s body parts
73. Will be better prepared for the next pandemics.
74. Are pro-vax
75. Both released their taxes and medical records for public review
76. Are committed to not violating the Emoluments Clause of the US Constitution
77. Will uphold the Hatch Act
78. Will include some Republicans in their administration, but none of them will be J. D. Vance
79. Advocate for paid family and medical leave.
80. Support the separation of church and state.
81. Stand up for reproductive rights globally.
82. Support the right to unionize and workers’ rights.
83. Want to modernize infrastructure across the country.
84. Are dedicated to protecting national parks and public lands.
85. Understand the importance of cybersecurity in national defense.
86. Support funding for arts and humanities programs.
87. Never paid hush-money to a porn star
88. Have no designs on Greenland
89. Are dedicated to building a more just, equitable society.
90. Will accept the outcome of the election
91. Are not running to stay out of prison, though their opponent has pledged to prosecute them or use the military against them
92. When they leave office, Biden will still hold the record as the oldest president ever to serve
93. Do not play Lee Greenwood at their rallies
94. Joy
95. Freedom
96. Love
97. Yeah, it is kinda embarrassing that we haven’t had a woman president yet
98. Were tacitly endorsed by Iman, which is as close as we’re gonna get to a Bowie endorsement
99. Hey, Jimmy Carter stayed alive for this!
100. Are, by all accounts, fundamentally decent, civil people

So there it is. Now, if you are a US voter, please go vote!