By Sophie Myers PZ ’27

Before getting into the meat of this argument, and all of the nuances and stakes involved, a quick preface:

I, the author, am writing as a Pitzer student who cares deeply about leftist causes, and admires leftist activism. I believe in the power of grassroots organizing, mutual aid, and student protest. I have also both engaged in various student organizing and protests in the past year, including protests directly against the Biden administration’s unwavering support of Israel. So I have witnessed first hand the passion, creativity, dedication, and empathy that exist in our generation’s leftist spaces, and I value these spaces immensely. In this article, I make the case for why leftists should still vote for Kamala Harris, but I have no wish to disparage leftists who have been skeptical of voting thus far, or condemn young leftists as a demographic, as many older liberals have done in the past few months. If anything, it is older generations of liberals who have failed leftist youth, handing us a world, country, and political system which all seem dysfunctional, unjust, and on the brink of collapse, and then condemning us for our inevitable disillusionment with all of it. And finally, I hear and see Palestinian communities that cannot with conscience vote for Harris, and I am certainly  not here to disparage that.

All that being said, given the world, country, and political system we currently have, voting for Harris is the only choice available if you care about principles of social justice, equity, protection of fundamental human rights, and democracy. 

I often hear a leftist argument that given America’s highly suspect democracy — with only two effective parties each accountable mainly to the interests of corporations and a few rich individuals who get to shape elections through powerful lobbying groups — the Democrats and the Republicans are basically the same. Everyone’s seen the memes of Democrats as warplanes with gay pride flags and Black Lives Matter hashtags, and of course there is truth to this accusation that the Democratic Party is nothing but social justice slogans tacked on to Republican policy. 

The Clinton administration was responsible for exacerbating mass incarceration, and further crippling American welfare programs. The Obama administration conducted ten times more drone strikes than the Bush administration and was criticized by numerous human rights organizations for doing so. And perhaps the quickest example that comes to mind today is the Biden administration’s unwavering support of Israel no matter how many civilians they kill, or hospitals or schools they bomb. So the Democratic Party is often highly disappointing.

Yet, to say that their policy goals are basically the same as the Republicans’ as of 2024, or that a Harris administration would be the same as a Trump one, is incredibly reductive and ignorant.

Back in 2016, a similar argument was made by leftists regarding Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump, as Hilary Clinton was arguably an even less appealing candidate than Kamala Harris when viewed through a leftist lens. Trump’s actions resulted in the systematic dismantling of climate regulations, the loss of abortion access and reproductive healthcare for millions of cis women and trans people, hundreds of thousands of excess COVID deaths, transphobic and Islamophobic legislation, and the mass propagation of election conspiracy theories culminating in the events of Jan.6.  For a more complete list of Trump’s Greatest Hits, we would recommend checking out this list compiled by UC Berkeley Professor Robert Reich, but these few points are simply meant to point out that Trump’s first administration was truly different from the conduct of the possible alternative, and truly worse.

When we consider a second Trump administration, here are some of the key things we can plausibly expect him to do, or attempt to do, which are radically different from what we can expect Harris to attempt to accomplish:

• Launch the largest deportation operation in American history, specifically targeting Latino immigrants, and possibly separating hundreds of thousands of parents from their children with American citizenship, and possibly deploying the National Guard to do so (something he has said he would like to do)
• Seek to deny legal immigrants entry to the U.S. on the basis of ideological belief (he has said he wants to target “Marxists” and “communists,” harkening back to Red Scare era America)
• Do his absolute best to cut sex education, any education mentioning LGBTQ+ issues, and any anti-racist education or education mentioning systemic racism in America from public schools
• Implement tax cuts that help the wealthiest people in America the most, furthering the already growing gap between rich and poor in this country 
• Slash EPA and NOAA budgets, pull out of the Paris Agreement (again), increase oil and gas production at every possible turn, and undermine any government efforts 
• Oppose aid to Ukraine and serve as an ally Vladamir Putin and whatever other authoritarian leaders of the day flatter his ego
• Implement as much of the Project 2025 agenda as possible, including restricting access to birth control and abortion as much as possible, targeting “DEI” hiring both in the government and in separate corporations, banning gender affirmative care for trans people, any acknowledgement of trans kids in public schools, and generally attempting to remove the existence of trans people from the public sphere, and promoting the interests of billionaires and Christian nationalists (more on Project 2025 here)
• And so much more that simply cannot fit into this article

Again, all this to say that any conclusion that a Trump and Harris presidency would be “basically the same” for the marginalized people of this country is incredibly misinformed. There are also many leftists who would agree with that, yet still feel uncomfortable voting for Harris because of her stance on Gaza. And there is no attempting to justify the Biden administration’s treatment of Gaza. It is unjustifiable. Instead, I would like to examine which candidate is likely to do less harm to Palestinian civilians, while acknowledging that regardless of if or how we vote, either Trump or Harris will end up as America’s next president — and neither has historically been an ally to Palestinians, to say the least. 

Yet despite their shared failures when it comes to this issue, there is a difference between Trump and Harris. This difference is well reflected in that leftist protests have largely targeted Harris rallies with demands for action on Palestine, while focusing little energy on Trump rallies. It is strategically savvy to target Harris with demands that she do better on Gaza, because there is a chance that she can be pushed to do better. She has given lip service to caring about Palestinian sovereignty and civilian casualties, so can be pressured to push policy that reflects her rhetoric. Trump, on the other hand, has demonstrated zero interest in ending Israel’s assault on Gaza, telling Biden in their debate “you should let them [Israel] go and let them finish the job.” In office the first time, Trump showed deep admiration for Netanyahu, a total contempt for Palestinians’ rights of self determination, and never once has he even claimed he cared about Palestinian lives.

According to polling of Palestinians in Gaza this summer by Al-Jazeera and Al-Monitor, Palestinians are understandably highly skeptical of Kamala Harris, but when it comes to the U.S. elections they generally reported favoring anyone over Trump. Of course, this reporting is now a couple months old, and those polled by no means represent all Palestinians, but given that they may be among those with the most at stake, taking into account their fear of a Trump presidency feels important. It is also important to note that polling of Israelis suggest that 93% of Israelis who support Netanyahu’s conservative coalition favor Trump over Harris, and we think this figure also says a lot. They see Trump’s unwavering support, and are highly skeptical of Harris, which is perhaps reason enough to have a glimmer of hope that Harris can be swayed. 

None of this is to say that Harris will be the ally to Palestinians in Gaza that she should be. I fully expect to vote for her and then protest her, but I see this as strategic rather than contradictory. There is truth to the leftist critique of voting as an extremely limited political action. Simply getting off the couch to vote blue every four years and then retreating into the apolitical abyss is not enough, has never been enough, and never will be enough. Organizing other forms of political action is incredibly important, but the chances of that political activity having an impact depends on who you vote into office.  

After the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, the Democratic Party changed its party platform to include things like implementing national standards regarding the use of force, establishing national registries of officers who abuse power, and decriminalizing weed. Was this enough? No! Absolutely not! And Democrats have shown again and again that they need leftist organizing to hold them accountable to even these less radical promises. But they have also shown a willingness to take the demands of protesters into account, and move in a direction of progress, which differs profoundly from Trump’s fascist law and order methods. 

The notion that Trump is a “threat to democracy” is thrown around a lot, but often comes across as rather abstract. First of all, America is hardly a true democracy, with our rampant voter suppression, our disenfranchisement of territories —perhaps most notably Puerto Rico — our absurd electoral college system, and the enormous lobbying power that corporations and billionaires possess in shaping policy. So the idea that there is some pure standard of equality that is only now being threatened can seem ridiculous. And second, we already had one Trump administration, and clearly our (highly flawed) systems are intact, so is he really a challenge to the status quo? Sure, he says crazy things sometimes, but so what?

Well first I would like to address the notion that the current/historical system of democracy is trash and therefore not worth saving, an idea present in many leftist spaces. There are many many ways our democratic system needs to change. However, if we want to see anything close to socialism or social democracy in our lifetimes, we will have to engage in immense amounts of outreach and organizing to convince our fellow Americans that this is the best path forward. Part of that work is protecting systems of free elections, freedom of the press, and the freedom to protest nonviolently, so that these methods of movement building remain open to us. Some amount of working within the system is necessary in order to change the system, unless—is what we are proposing is total revolution?

And here I would like to cite YouTuber Natalie Wynn (wild citation I know but bear with me) who makes the distinction between leftist ideation of violent revolution, vs. rightwing intent for violent revolution. When certain folks refuse to vote because they say what we need instead is revolution, what do they mean by that? Unlike rightwing extremist groups who genuinely do strategize by building and training militias and infiltrating the U.S. military and police, as far as I am aware no major group of leftists is developing genuine plans for overthrowing the U.S. government. 

Instead, leftists tend to talk about total revolution (as in overthrow of the government) in ideational terms, and more often than not those who invoke the word revolution use it to mean a variety of nuanced measures that can be taken to resist the U.S. government and systems of capitalism on a local level. And this is all well and good, but these forms of revolution, given that they are not a direct challenge to the U.S. government, still exist in its context, and so again, who is in charge of the U.S. government, and what is done with its power, matters. 

The freedom of elections, freedom of press, and freedom to protest non-violently that exist to a certain extent in the U.S., could all change under a second Trump administration. During Trump’s first administration he utilized the presidential office for personal and political gain without regard for American democracy, using campaign finances to pay hush money to an adult film star, soliciting foreign interference in his reelection campaign from Ukraine by withholding military aid, and inciting insurrection after losing said reelection campaign. 

The recent Supreme Court ruling granting Trump immunity from the legal consequences of possible crimes committed while he was in office the first time, would only embolden him during a second term. In his presidency, he was able to ensure that regardless of who wins the presidency going forward, they will remain in the palm of his hands. Also during a second term he is sure to utilize the policy recommendations compiled in Project 2025, which outline how exactly he could amass power in the executive branch, purge his enemies from the government, and enact a wildly unpopular, white supremacist, Christian nationalist, vision of America upon the country. I do not think I  need to explain in detail how this would be bad for leftist goals or leftist organizing. 

Whatever happens on November 5, it will be close, and if Trump does not win he will absolutely seek to challenge the results. Trump has refused to admit he lost the 2020 election, purged his party of those who object to this “Big Lie” conspiracy theory, and stated over and over again that the only way the Democrats could win is if they cheat. As the election draws closer, the rhetoric of Trump and his allies only gets more extreme, ballot boxes have been set on fire in Oregon, Washington, and Arizona, and at the recent rally in Madison Square Garden Trump spoke openly with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson about their Election Day surprise, referring to their “little secret” in the House. Again, every sign points towards a contested election, – ie, an election where the validity of the outcome is questioned – and in that scenario, every vote matters. Even if you are not voting from a swing state, overwhelming the popular vote remains crucial. 

If you have read this far, and are still planning not to vote, or to vote third party, I simply ask you to envision the goal of that decision. And if you have a goal in mind, and you believe your decision will help marginalized Americans, Palestinians, or the people of the Global South, then I’d be curious to hear from you on your reasoning, and have no wish to condemn you. 

If you are at all swayed, or are even interested in the arguments I’ve made, also feel free to follow up with me personally. Even if it is too late for you to vote in this election, there will be many more elections in our future, so it feels important to have space for this type of discourse. And if you are persuaded, consider reaching out to family and friends, and even dedicating a couple hours of your Halloweekend to phone banking. The website Vote Save America is a great place to go to find both virtual and in-person actions you can take in the next couple of days.