How to respond when someone says…

• No matter what you do, either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will be elected our next president. So, think about the issue or issues that are most important to you. Then, think about what each candidate says about those issues. For this thought experiment, assume they’ll both do exactly what they say they’ll do. Who aligns closest to what you want from a leader?

• It's likely the next president will appoint two Supreme Court justices. For lifetime appointments. Who do you want making that decision?

• Even if you don't love either presidential candidate, maybe you have local candidates you can get excited about? Many issues that have huge impacts on our daily lives are decided by local elected officials.

Your vote is your voice. You wouldn't want a random group of people choosing what you wear or where you go to dinner tonight, so why would you want them to pick your government for you? If you don’t vote, other people with power and money will make the policies - and who do you think will benefit then? Probably not everyday folks.

We know Trump & his allies are already sowing doubt about the fairness of our elections and plan to refuse to acknowledge a loss. Staying home helps them win. Democracy wins when our voter turnout blows them away. It's hard, but to believe in the greatness of America is to believe in the vote. So please, at least get registered/confirm your registration.

If you see someone posting about this online and want to respond with your own facts, proceed with caution. Media literacy and critiques of sources is a tit for tat game that rarely ends well.

Instead, try just asking what they're doing to help. If they're so upset about people being displaced, they must be generous humanitarians eager to find a way to pitch in. Here's a link to a North Carolina food bank that's accepting volunteers and monetary donations.

Absolutely. No one wants to feel there is blood on their hands.

And still we are faced with a choice — either Harris or Trump will be elected president. Which one do you think is most likely to sow more peace? Who is more likely to be impacted by American people fighting and protesting and pushing for a ceasefire, and funds to aid Gaza?

“If the rights and well-being of seven million Palestinians are important to you, there is no comparison between the extreme shortfalls of Biden and the extreme catastrophe of Trump.” - Forward

A vote for Harris is a vote for a more traditional politician who is moved by the voice of the people. She hasn’t said or done what we wish she would. But she acknowledges the atrocities.

A vote for Trump is a vote for a person who in his last term instituted a Muslim ban, wants to lock down borders and refuse refugees. He is for authoritarianism, and cares not at all about the will of the people. If you elect him and his troupe of loyalists, the people will not be able to pressure him to do a damn thing on the global stage.

And not voting? That’s also a vote for Trump.

Well, we know some things. We know she took her time getting her policies up on her website, to ensure they were done right, not just fast. We know she's for unity, supporting the middle class and securing freedoms that ensure all people can pursue their American dream.

Here she is talking about her economic plans, in detail.

Here's her interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast

And, here's a few things NPR thinks you should know about her.

We also know that if we want leaders who work for the long arc toward justice, there's no other way to vote in 2024.

When you hear someone lament about how much cheaper things were before the Biden/Harris administration, you could say…

1. Have you heard Harris' plan? Here she is talking about her economic plans, in detail.

2. The economy is actually in really good shape. This video does a good job explaining.

3. Inflation is complicated. You may not remember this from econ class, (I didn't), but economists actually want prices to be going up about 2% / year. So it’s actually a relief that stuff is more expensive today than it was in 2019.  

4. Yep, President Biden did err on the side of stimulus. He inherited an economy that was reeling from COVID shut downs, and the stimulus did cause a jump in prices. But it also saved us from a depression. And now, inflation is going down, and prices also already going down on their own*, because of a variety of reasons, including the fact that our economy is actually quite healthy. 

5. If prices suddenly plummet so will wages. What we need is for companies to stop price gouging, and for the economy to grow at a steady pace so that wages can increase. **

THE RECIEPTS

Remember: Trump's only economic record is price cuts for the ultra-wealthy, which did not trickle down to help the middle class. And he's promised to keep up that record if re-elected.

*Gasoline prices are more than 40 cents cheaper than this point last year, according to AAA. Over the past 12 months, prices have dropped for everything from appliances (-3.3%), furniture (-5.2%) and men’s suits (-12%), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And the overall inflation rate has dropped, too. It fell to 2.9% in July, the lowest rate in more than three years.

** Trump’s plan to impose new tariffs on all US imports and 60% tariffs on Chinese goods would cost the typical middle-income household at least $1,700 a year, according to research from the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “A deflationary environment would be a prescription for a very weak and recessionary economy,” said Zandi, who served as an economic adviser to former GOP Sen. John McCain when he ran for president in 2008.

Likewise, Trump’s vow to deport millions of people would hurt the supply of workers, threatening to drive up wages and prices.

And history shows that allowing politicians to influence central bank decisions – an idea Trump strongly supports – can also be inflationary.

That’s why 16 Nobel Prize-winning economists warned earlier this summer that the Trump agenda won’t just fail to fix inflation, it will “reignite” it.

Ok, just say that one out loud and think about it for a second.

1. Trust yourself -- you know that people need to pay rent or borrow money for a mortgage.

2. Even affordable housing programs aren't giving away places to live. If they were, there would be no unhoused people anywhere in the country.

3. The real story behind the housing crisis is much too complicated for talking points or even debates. It stems back to decisions made in 2008, COVID responses and more.

Which things in particular are you thinking she hasn’t done? It’s important to remember the job distinctions between VP and president. A president has executive orders at their disposal, but neither one writes or passes laws. That’s for congress. But they both bring a tone to the government and the country. Harris will bring decency, calm and focus to the office. Just as she has with Biden for 4 years. Not to mention her plans for the future!

Looking at a few specific topics: 

• Secure the border? Since she was VP, she didn't have a vote on the bi-partisan bill. But the republicans who love to campaign on the issues around immigration actively voted against it. And still, thanks to the Biden administration, undocumented border crossings are going down. 

• The economy? It's actually doing really well right now. Inflation was an unfortunately necessary byproduct of the economic stimulus that avoided a COVID era recession. Inflation numbers are going down, and prices are slowly following. To help provide relief for Americans, she has a plan to stop companies from price gouging.  

• Climate? She and Biden passed the largest climate legislation in history. And she’s going to stay the course. 

• Voting rights? The voting rights legislation — which went through several iterations but was ultimately blocked in the Senate — would have countered voting restrictions in Republican-led states, limited gerrymandering and regulated campaign finance more strictly.

Want more on her record as VP? You got it.

ALSO: Let's not let a double-standard go. Trump actually was president and he failed to deliver on border security promises, he weakened our position globally, and is responsible for the tax increases we're living through now.

When someone’s main issue is gun rights, and they use that as a reason to vote against Harris/Walz, you might ask: 

• Did you know Kamala and Tim are both gun owners? And probably like you, she's said out loud what she'd do if someone broke into her house...

• Did someone tell you they want to erase all legal gun ownership?  Red flag laws, background checks and removing assault weapons are focused on public safety. 

• Isn’t it worth considering some new gun laws if it means gun violence is no longer the #1 killer of kids in America? Shouldn't we do everything we can (least of all, vote) to ensure no kids or teachers or coaches are afraid to go to school?!
  
  SOME RESEARCH:
  The Biden-Harris record on gun control
  
  According to the Rockefeller Institute: There were 109 public mass shootings in the United States and 35 public mass shootings in 35 other economically and politically comparative countries between 2000 and 2022.

  The United States makes up 33 percent of the combined population of these 36 countries; however, it also accounts for 76 percent of public mass shooting incidents and 70 percent of victim fatalities in these countries.

This is a topic Harris and Walz are very open to discussing because they know how much it matters to voters. But one-on-one conversations likely immediately get highly personal.

All that said, our advice is to find ways to reiterate an idea that likely feels obvious: Choice.

Truly. I recently had a very productive conversation with someone that ended just this way. We traded personal anecdotes and faith stories, etc. and were nearly about to move on when I just said:

At the end of the day, I think it comes down to the fact that while we may make different decisions for ourselves, it just can’t be up to the government to decide. No one else can make that call on my behalf. Or yours. Or anyone’s.

And their response? No one has ever put it to me quite like that before. Boom. End of discussion.

SOME RESOURCES:
- It might be helpful to point out how forced birth has super long-lasting impact on the mother's economic outlook/career.

- Harris' own words about abortion, from the September debate.

- It might also be helpful to expand the definition of "pro-life" to ensure it doesn't stop at birth. True pro-lifers should advocate for affordable childcare, paid parental leave policies, schools safe for every child (regardless of gender identity), gun laws that decrease school shootings, and anti-death penalty. :)

If you hear someone equating immigrants and criminals you might ask:

1. Have you seen the statistics that violent crime has actually been going down since 2020?

2. Did you know that according to Stanford, immigrants are between 60 and 30 percent less likely to be incarcerated than are U.S.-born individuals?

3. Did you know that immigrants pay taxes, serve in our military and do three quarters of the agricultural work across the country? We would be in an economic and military crisis without immigrants.

4. Did you know that Harris wants to pass immigration reform? Republicans actually helped write a bi-partisan immigration bill that would have helped secure our border, and help fix our broken immigration system, but they pulled their support at the last minute*. Harris/Walz will bring that back.

*Because Trump told them to. (Because he wasn’t willing to give the Biden/Harris administration the political win).

If you hear someone using transphobic language, you might ask:

1. When did it become ok for someone’s personal identity to be used by politicians?

2. Kids have trans teachers and friends, and have never struggled with using pronouns that they’ve been asked to use. I wonder why it’s so upsetting to you?

3. I’m guessing you’re making fun of trans folks because you don’t understand. Can I help?

I hope you can see how calling into question whether or not a single person (or group of people) is deserving of dignity, respect, and privacy is a slippery slope we don’t want our government to go down.

• What do you like about his policies?

• What makes you trust him as a leader?

• Are you concerned about the way he disregards the law if it gets in his way?

• Leading questions here, but I gotta ask, do you think it's a sign of strength that 4 years later, he still won't admit that he lost the election? That if he wins, he plans to pardon those who stormed the capitol and violently attacked police officers? The fact that he hid in the dining room of the White House and literally said "So what" when told his VP was in danger* (because he wasn't breaking the law for Trump)?

To me, that isn't strength, it's un-American.

*Link to the full legal brief with direct quotes from Trump's advisors (most of whom refuse to support his current campaign).

In what way isn't she qualified?

Can you share what you think makes a person qualified to be president?

She went to law school, served several governmental posts before becoming VP.

Take a peek at how her experience compares with Trump's.