To my brothers, uncles, cousins, nephews, former bosses, colleagues, former students of voting age and friends,
Please, please cast vote for Kamala Harris this week at the polls. I know it’s unusual for me to draw a such strong line in the sand, but I feel like this election requires it. In 2016, I assumed that Hillary Clinton would beat Donald Trump because she was a hard working woman with a law degree and actual governmental experience. Boy was I wrong!
Donald Trump appealed to men in a way that I didn’t see at the time. He was a risk taker that spoke his mind and had a lot of money. Furthermore, a lot of the rhetoric about Hillary Clinton was tied to her husband Bill, and she had not helped herself by using exaggeration and falsehoods when she should have spoken more truthfully. If speaking truth is something that’s important to you, then you should note that Donald Trump is constantly making up falsehoods and repeating known lies. He literally lost the lawsuit about lying regarding money (fraud) and is required to pay a lot of money to his former investment partners in New York City.
But all of that is secondary to the main purpose of this request, I think Donald Trump is bad for women and for men and I am desperate to not see him get into power again. I have two young daughters, I don’t have to remind you of his attitudes and behavior towards young women. Statutory rape is on the list of very bad things that he has gotten away with. How can a man who treats women like objects, govern well on behalf of women and girls? Men, please to show courage and do not let a man such as this represent you or our country.
What about the economy? Whose economy are you interested in protecting? These rich men that are vying for power are out to protect their own wealth at the expense of everyone else including most working men. If you are not already a billionaire, then this so-called great economy Trump is interested in protecting will not help you. When Elon Musk bought Twitter, the first thing he did was fire 1/3 of the workers. He didn’t care who they were or what they did. He just wanted to turn an instant profit for himself and his co-investors. He has dumped $44 million into Trump‘s campaign—you better believe that he will be looking for a payback. I don’t personally know any men who are actual “capitalists.” Most men in America work for medium to large companies. Trump is about stripping out protections for workers and giving all of the power to the top 0.1%. Some men I know are small business owners. I’m not sure if small businesses that care for their workers and their communities will be able to compete with big corporations that operate overseas avoiding taxes and protections for their workers that local companies have to maintain.
As for minorities and immigrants, we know what Trump’s attitude toward them is. If you aren’t an immigrant or minority, then perhaps you think you are safe. But nobody is safe when people like Trump are in office. He rejects science; he wants to take down NOAA because he doesn’t like their feedback about climate change. He is vocal against alternate forms of energy like wind and solar because his campaign funding comes from massive oil corporations. If Trump is put into office, he will be beholden to them.
I am running out of space and time to continue this, but if you have a care for women or for men, or for financial security, or for truth or for science, then please vote for Kamala Harris. Our vice-president has government experience and was a prosecuting attorney, so we know she’s tough. As a woman and a minority, she knows what it’s like to have prove herself every single day. Her campaign funding comes from more individuals than corporations, so we know that her mandate is to work for us.
Do the right thing.