Harris for President

Kamala for President

As a Democrat in a very red town I understand that most of the Republicans are solid Republican voters and will be voting for Trump and the Republicans down ballot. I understand that we are a polarized nation and most people’s minds are made up. So if that is you, this letter is not for you. However, if you are concerned with the man who wants to return to the White House, please read on.

First, there is the issue of a woman’s right to bodily autonomy. If you put yourself in the position of a woman who wants a child, but it has severe abnormalities or an ectopic pregnancy, don’t you want her to be able to decide what to do to save her life & future pregnancies? Imagine it is you, your wife or daughter. Should the government make that decision? Trump will sign a total ban on abortion if given the chance and women will die. They are already dying in states where abortion is outlawed.

Another hot-button issue is immigration. Trump wants to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, separate families again and build what are internment camps. Many of these immigrants are running from horrible wars or unlivable conditions in their countries and it is a matter of life & death for them to leave. Most are not criminals or gang members. They are families in search of a better life, as many of our families were years ago. Most of us are decendents of immigrants if not immigrants ourselves. When they get here, they do the work Americans won’t do and they pay taxes with a fake Social Security number, into a system that will never pay them a dime. And who will complain the most about the cost of meat and produce when they’re deported? Probably the people who voted to send them away.

Let’s talk about guns. About 120,000 people a year are killed by guns in the U.S. This does not happen in other advanced nations. It’s not caused by video games or social media. Other countries have that. Other countries even allow guns and don’t have these rates of gun violence. What’s the difference? It is easy access to guns and specifically assault weapons which are banned in most other countries. Assault weapons are the guns of choice for young male mass shooters in this country. Common sense gun laws are key to stopping this carnage. Unlike JD Vance, the Republican VP Candidate, who called these deaths “a fact of life,” I refuse to accept these deaths as collateral damage to the 2nd Amendment. You would not accept that answer if it were your child murdered by a shooter.

There are so many issues on which Trump will be on the amoral side of. He doesn’t care about you. He cares about himself and trying to not go to prison. So, let’s look at the last issues. Social Security & the Affordable Care Act. Most of us work our whole lives and pay into Social Security so that when we retire, we have a safety net. Trump wants to lower the payout and raise the age you have to work until (imagine if you are a physical laborer). He wants to do away with the ACA but he only has a “concept” of a plan. Remember when you could be refused health care because of a preexisting condition? Remember when you could not keep your kids on your plan once they turned 18 or were out of school? There was no preventative care to keep you healthy. The ACA cut uninsured rates in half by lowering and subsidizing costs. If Trump succeeds people will be dying because they can’t afford healthcare!

Trump’s policies, to the extent he has any, are an extension of Project 2025, written by the Heritage Foundation. He says he knows nothing about it but that is just one of his many lies. Many of Trump’s former advisors are now with the Heritage Foundation. The more people look into Project 2025, the more unpopular it is.

Please check out Project 2025 and vote, at least this time, for the person who is fit for office, cares deeply about the American people, and is a very capable person. Ask yourself why are hundreds of Trump’s former cabinet members or former staff supporting Kamala Harris? Vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Let’s take our Democracy back. Then we can argue about policy again.

Fern Wolkin Hanover Township, NJ