As parents, we know what it’s like to change plans on a dime: to cancel a playdate because someone caught a cold or make a last-minute clothing swap (ours or the kids’) because of a spill. We adapt and move on, still focused on the ultimate goal of what’s best for our family. It’s kind of like politics.
We could argue (although I won’t here) about whether and when Joe Biden should have left the presidential race; we could have our own preferences about who is best to succeed him. The fact is, though, Kamala Harris is Biden’s chosen successor and seems likely to be the Democratic nominee.
Harris has spent the last four years at Biden’s side (virtually if not physically), ready to step into his shoes if needed. She set a new record for the most tie-breaking votes cast by a vice president in her constitutional role of President of the Senate. She’s advocated for reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, and an end to gun violence in the U.S., and represented our country abroad. Before that, she was attorney general of California, running the largest state justice department in the country, and (among other things) working to end the “panic defense” used to justify anti-LGBTQ violence. As district attorney of San Francisco before that, she was a champion of marriage equality and officiated the first same-sex wedding after Proposition 8 was overturned—that of Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, the two moms who were plaintiffs in the case. (Read the story in their memoir, Love on Trial.)
She’s also a multiracial woman and the daughter of immigrants: her mother is from India and her father is of Afro-Jamaican heritage. She’s married to a White, Jewish man and is stepmother to two children from his previous marriage—or as the children have dubbed her, “Momala.” Those identities alone don’t make her worthy, but they give her a lived experience within marginalized groups and with families formed in various ways, and I do believe that has positively impacted her worldview and her actions.
Is she a perfect candidate? No; no one ever is. Are there aspects of her record that we might not like? Sure; dig enough and one is bound to disagree somewhere with any candidate. But she is a universe ahead of the Republican contender, whose candidacy is a direct threat to LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, and yes, our democracy itself. And the margins are too slim for us to cast third-party votes or not vote in order to try and make a point (whatever that point might be).
My own online circle is a limited one, admittedly skewed to the left, but ever since Joe Biden made his announcement yesterday, I’ve sensed an energy and enthusiasm for Harris’ candidacy that just wasn’t there for Biden, despite his many real accomplishments. And across the country, there’s been a surge in fundraising for her. It’s a long way to November, and it’s going to take a lot of work, but I do believe we have a chance.
We parents, with the best interests of our children to motivate us and our networks of real-life and online communities, can play a pivotal role in explaining to others why a vote for Harris will make a genuine difference for our families and ourselves. We can help others, including our adult children, register to vote and get to the polls.
Nothing is guaranteed, of course, but we can make sure that when we wake up on November 6, we have done all we can for Harris, for the downballot races, and for our families. We parents don’t give up on our children, no matter how many times they change their minds about which shoes to wear (and how much this frustrates us), and we shouldn’t give up on our country.
