During what’s already been a wild and crazy presidential campaign — and unprecedented in so many ways — I wish to join the many Americans expressing gratitude to President Joe Biden for stepping aside and “passing the torch” to Vice President Kamala Harris (even if Biden had to be nudged to do so by his Democratic Party allies).
Harris, who would become the first woman and person of South Asian descent — and yes, the second Black American — to be our nation’s president if she wins the election, has gotten off to a fantastic start. That’s in large part due to the fact that voters no longer face the unhappy prospect of choosing between two old white men, neither of them fit to be the next president (though for strikingly different reasons). Now we instead face a new dynamic: a former prosecutor going up against a convicted felon and pathological liar. I greatly anticipate the possibility of a debate between Harris and Donald Trump.
One more thought: I hope that Harris, unlike Biden, quickly makes it clear to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. demands a permanent ceasefire in the Israeli-Hamas war and that our nation will no longer be complicit in Israel’s genocidal assault on innocent Palestinians in Gaza. Harris must do whatever she can in her new role as presidential candidate to influence the end of any form of assistance that contributes to Israel’s criminal war on the Palestinian people.
To be honest, I’m not sure what she can accomplish right now (while still only the vice president) in this regard, but she must do her best.
— Bill Sherwonit
Anchorage
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