I hear complaints that people are tired of voting for the "lesser evil" - I believe we should see a vote for Harris as a vote AGAINST a greater evil.
I think this is also true for people NOT in swing states. In this election, numbers will matter. I agree that the Democratic Party has acted terribly, cynically; and that Biden and Blinken deserve to be held accountable for abetting Israel's massacres of Gazans. Yet I also believe the price of "voting one's conscience" in this election could be enormous for Palestinians and for the human race generally.
I hear you and all your points are valid however, when do we stop voting for an administration just because it’s not bad in the same ways as the other party? Harris herself has denied Palestinian voices on multiple occasions literally and metaphorically with her affirmation that 10/7 was the first worse day and no changes were n Israeli politics would come from her administration and this message was boosted by Shapiro and her husband in MI of all places.
When will the election be less consequential so we can only vote for those not doing harm? The same is said every election and yet nothing changes and our choices are worse and worse. When do good people of moral character say no to candidates violating clear international law, federal crimes , war crimes?
I agree with you, I think your questions are fair. I don't know if I have a convincing answer. I am appalled that Harris has not suggested ANY changes in the US role.. The Democrats are guilty and hugely cynical.
Still, a Trump win terrifies me. I think of Trump's brutality, his desire to lock up opponents... his propensity for violence. What might he encourage Netanyahu to do? What might the results be here?
We have to act based not on our feeling tired of not having ideal candidates but we have to act based on the material conditions, and because we are fighting the fascism that trump has opened the door to, that's what we have to do.
We've inherited these conditions from the past. This is karma in the sense of cause and effect. History has brought us to this point in which this is the choice and we must have the discipline to play our part if we are willing to put it on the line to push back and resist the fascist momentum. I hope that people who are tired of this kind of problem will join actively in the movement to build multi-racial democracy against white supremacy and authoritarianism that is in support of a war economy and the on-going, many decades long terrible situation in Palestine. IMO, we are starting to emerge into a situation in which political organizing can bear more fruit --- when I was a new voter, white people were about 91% of the electorate, and now people of color are about 28% which is a potentially winning coalition when combined with the ~35% of white people who are more reliable liberal/progressive voters. We have to do the organizing work to advance not just try to defend against attack. We have to do the work to advance the candidacies of progressive persons and to fill the pipeline with them so we'll have candidates we actually feel good about voting for. We have to fight cynicism and nihilism and individualism and performative politics.
Peter, Thank you so much for this talk. Those of us who are your loyal fans love you for your combination of emotional and intellectual integrity, your intelligence, and your articulateness. Those qualities were all apparent in this video. I agreed with everything you have said here, with all the caveats and nuances. Indeed, I feel I could have written this piece myself, with essentially the same content, though of course it would not have been written as well. And so, for the reasons you have given here, I have voted for Kamala Harris, gritting my teeth a bit, in the swing state in which I am registered, Wisconsin (where I last lived in the US in the mid-1970s). I have sent in my ballot and I assume it will be counted. Had I lived in New York or California, I would not have but probably for Jill Stein, as a protest vote (but without any chance of it helping Donald Trump). Should Kamala win, as I profoundly hope she will despite my hatred of her Israel-Palestine stance, I will be writing her a proper letter urging her to start doing something meaningful for peace and Palestinian rights, starting with an immediate ceasefire (if there is not one in place by inauguration day). Again, thank you very much for this contribution.
I follow you and Currents as an American Jew who wants to understand the antizionist perspective. I often read things that upset or anger me and I sit with them.
This is different. I respect you as a journalist and am disappointed that you are holding space for voters who are doing anything other than cast a ballot for Harris. As you know, any other choice helps Trump because of the electoral college.
I think "lesser of two evils" is nonsense, for two reasons. First, the whole point of the phrase is that one choice is always better. So refusing to choose between the two completely ignores the point of this trope. Second, it is obvious that democracy will continue under Harris and we can push her toward our goals in the Middle East. That is not possible with Trump.
I lived through 2000 and 2016 and this approach to voting is dangerous. I would love to have a system of ranked-choice (we have it in St. Paul, MN) or or other options that allow for a third party. But we are not there. All those votes for Nader and Stein put two terrible people in charge for 12 crucial years.
I realize you are saying that a vote for Harris is important in swing states. I agree. It is important in non-swing states. We lost a head start on environmental action and a reasonable response to 9/11 because of purity tests. We lost a sane approach to Covid and women's right to choose because of purity tests. What will we lose this time?
PS Jill Stein is a Russian asset who has done less for the environment than my sons' middle school eco-friendly club.
“ Last week, the Israeli military bombed the town of Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip. According to local health services, some 80 people were killed by the bombs. In videos broadcasted by Al Jazeera, currently off-air in Israel but whose reports are readily available on YouTube, little children are seen being pulled out of the rubble, their entire bodies covered in whitish-grey powdered debris. Some will not survive. Others will, but will lose a parent or both parents and will join tens of thousands Gazan children orphaned by the war.”
“ The Israeli military was laying siege at the time on two hospitals in the Jabalya refugee camp, cutting off electricity and shelling their surroundings. According to local health services in the camp, the shelling killed 46 people (21 of whom were women and children). Well, while all this was happening in Jabalya, my family and I were having Asian food we had ordered from a Tel Aviv restaurant, and later on I watched a late-1980s action movie with my youngest son, so he'd get to know the cinematic masterpieces I grew up on.”
Michael Sfard, in today’s Haaretz newspaper, ‘ What Was I Doing While Israel Was Killing civilians in Gaza?’
You might ask what has this to do with the Presidential election. Well the events happening in Gaza right now are being done on Biden/Harris’s watch.
Even though it seems to me the Harris campaign has displayed an incomprehensible level of disregard ( and utter stupidity ) for the Arab American community which voted overwhelmingly for democrats in the recent past I do agree that voting for Harris is the logical thing to do ( I realize though that, for many in my community who lost loved ones or whose relatives are suffering, the lesser of 2 evils argument does not fly ). The Harris campaign does have an AA and a Muslim American on staff doing outreach to both communities. If Harris wins, at least the 2 communities can expect with their supporters among progressive members of congress to have a seat at the table.
thank you for posting that. It's a thoughtful statement.
my mother was a news and civics junkie as a high school student in California, and the current events contest she won was a hardcover book that had to be sent to her in a temporary concentration camp run by the U.S. government. She took me to vote, made the strong impression that this was a crucial and precious thing and not to be squandered. I would never vote for a third party candidate as long as there's an electoral system screwed up by the electoral college that was instituted to advantage slave states. I would never vote for a candidate who was not a serious candidate, never vote for a candidate who ran without a reason or a hope of winning. And I would never expect the masses of people to carry my weight while I made a protest vote. (I think that's why people were surprised by the Brexit results; too many people thought it would lose and therefore it was safe to "send a positive protest" message.)
Arguably the most just-and perhaps most justice promoting-outcome would be for Harris to lose the popular vote by clearly ceding vote share in non swing states to Jill Stein but winning the Electoral College. A separate question revolves around alleged benefit of her loss, perhaps clearly shown by historical analogy. Would a sustained, however inadequate Weimar Republic have been preferable to banking on anarchists' and communists' hopes for greater repression spurring on revolution, alas fatally disappointed? I fear Trump's increasing alignment with both Putin and Netanyahu whose fascisms he clearly admires, should our military-with or without Biden's (our Hindenburg, I fear)consent-decline to block an insurrectionist takeover.
To absorb the truths of what you outline is incredibly painful but necessary for Americans to hear; we know most Americans aren’t even aware this is a conversation to be had. I continue to be grateful for your insights and thought provoking topics.
But Peter, you sidestep the looming question: as the resident of a solidly blue state, who will you vote for? This argument would have made more sense if you ‘fessed up, even though you live in a blue state you will still vote for the Democrat, and will move on to pressure her and her party to fight against fascism where it remains, as in Israel.
I have been through all those lesser of two evils struggles for many decades after, as progressive voter, my first hopeful vote was for JFK. Where has the Democratic Party come? Sponsor of the neocon backed genocide of Palestinians, with other Arabs to come (before on to China). No. Those of us who can’t support this continued downward path have to begin to forge an opposition group. It is not succumbing to the lesser of two evils thinking and voting for Harris or not voting. We need to gather under the banner of Jill Stein. Just a stepping stone on the right direction. Oh, if Trump wins because of this act of disobedience, we have to say it’s the Democrats fault as they thought they could go on killing by scaring us with Trump. That is their fault. We must put our votes on the scale of Justice. If Trump can win on his racist platform, maybe we need to take evil seriously and come up with a better resistance plan. It would be nice to get a picture through a protest vote how many Americans care about living in a just society that honors life not death.
So glad you spoke out on this issue. In a few words: a Trump presidency will be a disaster - here in the US and abroad. Fully understanding the pain and anger, not voting for Harris will make matters worse ... much worse. Especially for Palestinians.
Peter, as I've walked around furious at Harris and having to vote for her anyway, I've wondered something that I haven't heard anyone consider. What would Netanyahu's response be if she were to announce a break with Biden before the election? I'm wondering if her near- silence on Netanyahu's war crimes is to prevent Netanyahu from killing even more people before anyone has a chance to do anything of consequence? It just seems so stupid not to announce that she will enforce US laws that I wonder if there isn't something more behind it...
I hear complaints that people are tired of voting for the "lesser evil" - I believe we should see a vote for Harris as a vote AGAINST a greater evil.
I think this is also true for people NOT in swing states. In this election, numbers will matter. I agree that the Democratic Party has acted terribly, cynically; and that Biden and Blinken deserve to be held accountable for abetting Israel's massacres of Gazans. Yet I also believe the price of "voting one's conscience" in this election could be enormous for Palestinians and for the human race generally.
I hear you and all your points are valid however, when do we stop voting for an administration just because it’s not bad in the same ways as the other party? Harris herself has denied Palestinian voices on multiple occasions literally and metaphorically with her affirmation that 10/7 was the first worse day and no changes were n Israeli politics would come from her administration and this message was boosted by Shapiro and her husband in MI of all places.
When will the election be less consequential so we can only vote for those not doing harm? The same is said every election and yet nothing changes and our choices are worse and worse. When do good people of moral character say no to candidates violating clear international law, federal crimes , war crimes?
When is the time and why isn’t it now?
I agree with you, I think your questions are fair. I don't know if I have a convincing answer. I am appalled that Harris has not suggested ANY changes in the US role.. The Democrats are guilty and hugely cynical.
Still, a Trump win terrifies me. I think of Trump's brutality, his desire to lock up opponents... his propensity for violence. What might he encourage Netanyahu to do? What might the results be here?
We have to act based not on our feeling tired of not having ideal candidates but we have to act based on the material conditions, and because we are fighting the fascism that trump has opened the door to, that's what we have to do.
We've inherited these conditions from the past. This is karma in the sense of cause and effect. History has brought us to this point in which this is the choice and we must have the discipline to play our part if we are willing to put it on the line to push back and resist the fascist momentum. I hope that people who are tired of this kind of problem will join actively in the movement to build multi-racial democracy against white supremacy and authoritarianism that is in support of a war economy and the on-going, many decades long terrible situation in Palestine. IMO, we are starting to emerge into a situation in which political organizing can bear more fruit --- when I was a new voter, white people were about 91% of the electorate, and now people of color are about 28% which is a potentially winning coalition when combined with the ~35% of white people who are more reliable liberal/progressive voters. We have to do the organizing work to advance not just try to defend against attack. We have to do the work to advance the candidacies of progressive persons and to fill the pipeline with them so we'll have candidates we actually feel good about voting for. We have to fight cynicism and nihilism and individualism and performative politics.
Peter, Thank you so much for this talk. Those of us who are your loyal fans love you for your combination of emotional and intellectual integrity, your intelligence, and your articulateness. Those qualities were all apparent in this video. I agreed with everything you have said here, with all the caveats and nuances. Indeed, I feel I could have written this piece myself, with essentially the same content, though of course it would not have been written as well. And so, for the reasons you have given here, I have voted for Kamala Harris, gritting my teeth a bit, in the swing state in which I am registered, Wisconsin (where I last lived in the US in the mid-1970s). I have sent in my ballot and I assume it will be counted. Had I lived in New York or California, I would not have but probably for Jill Stein, as a protest vote (but without any chance of it helping Donald Trump). Should Kamala win, as I profoundly hope she will despite my hatred of her Israel-Palestine stance, I will be writing her a proper letter urging her to start doing something meaningful for peace and Palestinian rights, starting with an immediate ceasefire (if there is not one in place by inauguration day). Again, thank you very much for this contribution.
I follow you and Currents as an American Jew who wants to understand the antizionist perspective. I often read things that upset or anger me and I sit with them.
This is different. I respect you as a journalist and am disappointed that you are holding space for voters who are doing anything other than cast a ballot for Harris. As you know, any other choice helps Trump because of the electoral college.
I think "lesser of two evils" is nonsense, for two reasons. First, the whole point of the phrase is that one choice is always better. So refusing to choose between the two completely ignores the point of this trope. Second, it is obvious that democracy will continue under Harris and we can push her toward our goals in the Middle East. That is not possible with Trump.
I lived through 2000 and 2016 and this approach to voting is dangerous. I would love to have a system of ranked-choice (we have it in St. Paul, MN) or or other options that allow for a third party. But we are not there. All those votes for Nader and Stein put two terrible people in charge for 12 crucial years.
I realize you are saying that a vote for Harris is important in swing states. I agree. It is important in non-swing states. We lost a head start on environmental action and a reasonable response to 9/11 because of purity tests. We lost a sane approach to Covid and women's right to choose because of purity tests. What will we lose this time?
PS Jill Stein is a Russian asset who has done less for the environment than my sons' middle school eco-friendly club.
“ Last week, the Israeli military bombed the town of Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip. According to local health services, some 80 people were killed by the bombs. In videos broadcasted by Al Jazeera, currently off-air in Israel but whose reports are readily available on YouTube, little children are seen being pulled out of the rubble, their entire bodies covered in whitish-grey powdered debris. Some will not survive. Others will, but will lose a parent or both parents and will join tens of thousands Gazan children orphaned by the war.”
“ The Israeli military was laying siege at the time on two hospitals in the Jabalya refugee camp, cutting off electricity and shelling their surroundings. According to local health services in the camp, the shelling killed 46 people (21 of whom were women and children). Well, while all this was happening in Jabalya, my family and I were having Asian food we had ordered from a Tel Aviv restaurant, and later on I watched a late-1980s action movie with my youngest son, so he'd get to know the cinematic masterpieces I grew up on.”
Michael Sfard, in today’s Haaretz newspaper, ‘ What Was I Doing While Israel Was Killing civilians in Gaza?’
You might ask what has this to do with the Presidential election. Well the events happening in Gaza right now are being done on Biden/Harris’s watch.
Even though it seems to me the Harris campaign has displayed an incomprehensible level of disregard ( and utter stupidity ) for the Arab American community which voted overwhelmingly for democrats in the recent past I do agree that voting for Harris is the logical thing to do ( I realize though that, for many in my community who lost loved ones or whose relatives are suffering, the lesser of 2 evils argument does not fly ). The Harris campaign does have an AA and a Muslim American on staff doing outreach to both communities. If Harris wins, at least the 2 communities can expect with their supporters among progressive members of congress to have a seat at the table.
Peter—have you come across this letter from Palestinian-Arab leaders in Arizona?
https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/arizona-palestinian-arab-muslim-and-progressive-democrats-and-community-leaders-statement-on-presidential-election/
thank you for posting that. It's a thoughtful statement.
my mother was a news and civics junkie as a high school student in California, and the current events contest she won was a hardcover book that had to be sent to her in a temporary concentration camp run by the U.S. government. She took me to vote, made the strong impression that this was a crucial and precious thing and not to be squandered. I would never vote for a third party candidate as long as there's an electoral system screwed up by the electoral college that was instituted to advantage slave states. I would never vote for a candidate who was not a serious candidate, never vote for a candidate who ran without a reason or a hope of winning. And I would never expect the masses of people to carry my weight while I made a protest vote. (I think that's why people were surprised by the Brexit results; too many people thought it would lose and therefore it was safe to "send a positive protest" message.)
Arguably the most just-and perhaps most justice promoting-outcome would be for Harris to lose the popular vote by clearly ceding vote share in non swing states to Jill Stein but winning the Electoral College. A separate question revolves around alleged benefit of her loss, perhaps clearly shown by historical analogy. Would a sustained, however inadequate Weimar Republic have been preferable to banking on anarchists' and communists' hopes for greater repression spurring on revolution, alas fatally disappointed? I fear Trump's increasing alignment with both Putin and Netanyahu whose fascisms he clearly admires, should our military-with or without Biden's (our Hindenburg, I fear)consent-decline to block an insurrectionist takeover.
To absorb the truths of what you outline is incredibly painful but necessary for Americans to hear; we know most Americans aren’t even aware this is a conversation to be had. I continue to be grateful for your insights and thought provoking topics.
But Peter, you sidestep the looming question: as the resident of a solidly blue state, who will you vote for? This argument would have made more sense if you ‘fessed up, even though you live in a blue state you will still vote for the Democrat, and will move on to pressure her and her party to fight against fascism where it remains, as in Israel.
I cannot imagine he will vote Trump. My interpretation of this piece is he will stay home or vote Stein or another protest candidate.
I have been through all those lesser of two evils struggles for many decades after, as progressive voter, my first hopeful vote was for JFK. Where has the Democratic Party come? Sponsor of the neocon backed genocide of Palestinians, with other Arabs to come (before on to China). No. Those of us who can’t support this continued downward path have to begin to forge an opposition group. It is not succumbing to the lesser of two evils thinking and voting for Harris or not voting. We need to gather under the banner of Jill Stein. Just a stepping stone on the right direction. Oh, if Trump wins because of this act of disobedience, we have to say it’s the Democrats fault as they thought they could go on killing by scaring us with Trump. That is their fault. We must put our votes on the scale of Justice. If Trump can win on his racist platform, maybe we need to take evil seriously and come up with a better resistance plan. It would be nice to get a picture through a protest vote how many Americans care about living in a just society that honors life not death.
So glad you spoke out on this issue. In a few words: a Trump presidency will be a disaster - here in the US and abroad. Fully understanding the pain and anger, not voting for Harris will make matters worse ... much worse. Especially for Palestinians.
Peter, as I've walked around furious at Harris and having to vote for her anyway, I've wondered something that I haven't heard anyone consider. What would Netanyahu's response be if she were to announce a break with Biden before the election? I'm wondering if her near- silence on Netanyahu's war crimes is to prevent Netanyahu from killing even more people before anyone has a chance to do anything of consequence? It just seems so stupid not to announce that she will enforce US laws that I wonder if there isn't something more behind it...