The Opinions - The Only Patriotic Choice for President

Episode Date: September 30, 2024

Listen to Times Opinion Editor Kathleen Kingsbury make the case for Kamala Harris.Thoughts? Email us at [e-mail]. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is The Opinions, a show that brings you a mix of voices from New York Times opinion. You've heard the news. Here's what to make of it. I'm Kathleen Kingsbury. I oversee the opinion section at the New York Times, including its editorial board. Over and over again, this editorial board has been making the case that Donald Trump is unfit to be president. Now we turn to the optimistic case for why Kamala Harris is the better choice. The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists. whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate, and certain longstanding values, but is separate from the Times Newsroom.

This is an excerpt of our editorial, the only patriotic choice per president. It is hard to imagine a candidate more unworthy to serve as president of the United States than Donald Trump. He has proved himself morally unfit for an office that asks its occupants to put the good of the nation above self-interest. He's proved himself temperamentally unfit for a role that requires the very qualities that he most lacks, wisdom, empathy, courage, restraint, discipline. Those disqualifying characteristics are further compounded by everything else that limits his ability to fulfill the duties of the president. His many criminal charges, his advancing age, his fundamental disinterest in policy, and his bizarre cast of associates. This unequivocal, dispiriting truth, Donald Trump is not fit to be president,

should be enough for any voter who cares about the health of our country and the stability of our democracy to deny him re-election. For this reason, regardless of any political disagreements voters might have with her, Kamala Harris is the only patriotic choice for president. Most presidential elections are, at their core, about two different visions of America that emerge from competing policies and principles. This one is about something more foundational. It is about whether we invite into the highest office in the land, a man who has revealed, unmistakably that he will degrade the values,

defy the norms, and dismantle the institutions that have made our country strong. As a dedicated public servant who has demonstrated care, competence, and an unwavering commitment to the Constitution, Ms. Harris stands alone in this race. She may not be the perfect candidate for every voter, especially those who are frustrated and angry about our government's failures to fix what's broken, from our immigration system to public schools, to housing costs, and to gun violence. Yet we urge Americans to contrast Ms. Harris's record with her opponents. Ms. Harris is more than a necessary alternative. There is also an optimistic case for elevating her, one that is rooted in her policies and worn out by her experience as vice president, a senator,

and as a state attorney general. Over the past 70s, days, Ms. Harris has offered a shared future for all citizens beyond hate and division. She has begun to describe a thoughtful set of plans to help American families. While character is enormously important, in this election preeminently so. Policies matter. Many Americans remain deeply concerned about their prospects and that of their children in an unstable and unforgiving world. For them, Ms. Harris is clearly the better choice. She is committed to using the power of her office to help her. help Americans better afford the things they need to make it easier to own a home, to support small

businesses, and to help American workers. Mr. Trump's economic priorities are more tax cuts, which will benefit mostly the wealthy, and more tariffs, which will make prices even more unmanageable for the middle class. Beyond the economy, Ms. Harris promises to continue the work to expend access to health care and reduce its cost. She has a long record of fighting to protect women's health and reproductive freedom. Mr. Trump, on the other hand, spent years trying to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and boasts picking the Supreme Court justices who ended the constitutional right to an abortion. Ms. Harris will work to maintain and strengthen the alliances with like-minded nations

that have long advanced American interests abroad and maintained the nation's security. Mr. Trump, who has long praised autocrats like Vladimir Putin, Victor Orban, and Kim Jong-un, has threatened to blow those Democratic alliances apart. Ms. Harris recognizes the need for global solutions to climate change and would continue Mr. Biden's major investments in the industries and technologies necessary to achieve that goal. Mr. Trump rejects the accepted science, and his contempt for low-carbon energy solutions is matched only by his trollish loyalty to fossil fuels. As to immigration, a huge and largely unsolved issue,

the former president continues to demonize and dehumanize immigrants. Ms. Harris at least offers hope for a compromise, long denied by Congress, to secure the borders and return the nation to a sane immigration system. Many voters have said they want more details about the vice president's plans, as well as more unscripted encounters where she explains her vision and policy.

They're right to ask. Given the stakes of this election, Ms. Harris may think she is running a campaign designed to minimize the risks of an unforced error. Answering journalists' questions or offering greater policy detail could court controversy after all. The strategy might ultimately prove winning,

but it's a disservice to the American people into her own record. And leaving the public with a sense that she is being shielded from tough questions as Mr. Biden has been, that could backfire by undermining her core argument that a capable new generation stands ready to take the reins of power.

In 2020, this board made the strongest case it could against the re-election of Mr. Trump. Four years later, many Americans have put his excesses out of their minds. We urge them, and those who look back at that period with nostalgia or feel that their lives are not much better now to recognize that his first term was a warning, and that a second Trump term would be much more damaging and divisive than the first. Kamala Harris is the only choice. If you like this show, follow it.

on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts. This show is produced by Derek Arthur, Sophia Alvarez Boyd, Vichaka, Fibylette, Christina Samuelski, and Jillian Weinberger. It's edited by Kari Pitkin, Alison Bruzek, and Annie Rose Strasser. Engineering, mixing, and original music by Isaac Jones, Sonia Herrero, Pat McCusker, Carol Saburo, and Afim Shapiro. Additional music by Amin Sohota. The fact check team is Kate Sinclair, Mary Marge Locker and Michelle Harris. Audience Strategy by Shannon Busta, Christina Samueluski, and Adrian Rivera. The executive producer of Times Opinion Audio is Annie Rose Dresser.