The last election and the ultimate Uber

First published in the Wakefield Daily Item, October 15, 2024.

First, an apology. I began 2024 fully intending to crank out regular columns aiming to encourage folks to hang in there, stay positive, and do what they can to help save our democratic system in this election year. I’ve managed to write a few pieces, but to be honest, between work and life and the state of the world, I’ve struggled.

A while back, I started a piece aimed at young people. It’s been a tough political season for all Americans, but before President Biden dropped out of the race in July, I felt especially bad for the young folks.

Imagine, as a younger voter – charged-up and idealistic with lots of ideas about positive change and righteous anger at the wrongs of the world – looking at Biden and Trump as your candidates in this year’s presidential election. Hoo boy.

Granted, Joe Biden has accomplished more policy-wise than any U.S. president since FDR, but the dude’s a serious geezer, no question. As an older white guy myself, I’m aware of how out-of-touch and uninspiring I must appear to my millennial and Gen Z fellow citizens. I mean, who wants an old fart running things, imposing old ways and perspectives, seemingly grasping onto power for dear life? I get it.

So I was relieved and grateful to President Biden when he dropped out of the race and endorsed VP Kamala Harris. And it has been gratifying to see the new energy that Harris and her running mate Tim Walz have injected into the process, reinvigorating Democrats and young people, and clarifying the choice and the stakes for independents and principled Republicans. (I encourage anyone in the latter groups to read conservative Republican former congresswoman Liz Cheney’s excellent book, Oath and Honor.)

I realized, though, that the argument for young people back then still holds for anyone struggling with the prospect of supporting Harris because of her positions on issues. Basically, the problem is a confusion of issues (or a single issue) with the system.

Everyone has issues they feel strongly about: inflation and the economy, climate change, gun violence, immigration, the Israel war, reproductive freedom, you name it. And it’s typical for voters to base their vote on a candidate’s positions on issues. But this is no typical election. What’s at stake goes way beyond any particular issue or even a set of issues – the entire system is on the line.

While you may feel deeply and passionately about these issues – and I certainly do – it is our democratic system that allows us all to express our passionate opinions and be heard without fear of reprisal, especially when those opinions go against the view or policy of the current administration.

Here’s a metaphor to illustrate: Imagine you’re taking a rideshare in a big van, like an Uber or Lyft except there are a bunch of other passengers too. You and your fellow passengers tell the driver where you want to go and he (or she) listens, using their judgment on the best route to get there (though the passengers can express an opinion on that too). You and the driver and passengers may disagree and discuss the destination and the route, but the driver has to listen to you. In fact, telling the driver where you want to go is required – it’s part of the operating model for the rideshare.

Now imagine being in the same van, but you and the other passengers are bound and gagged and thrown in the back. You have no say on where the van is going or on the route being taken or the conditions inside the van, or anything else.

In this metaphor, the particular destination that a passenger desires is like a political issue. The route you want to take, or that the driver wants to take, is an issue. The features inside the van – cloth or leather seats, power windows, air conditioning and heat – are issues. But the rideshare itself, the business model, the rules of operation – that is the system. Oh yeah, and the driver is the POTUS and the passengers are citizens.

It's not a perfect metaphor, but you get the point. No specific issue, no matter how crucial or even existential it seems, is as important as our democratic system, which is what ensures that we all have a voice in influencing the direction of the country. And make no mistake, this system is in jeopardy. Seriously, look what happened when Trump lost the last election: the January 6^th assault on the Capitol; lots of restrictive voting laws passed in red states despite zero evidence of significant voter fraud or election interference; the development of Project 2025, a detailed and explicit plan to kill the current system. If Trump is elected, he will make sure that he cannot be challenged again by destroying the democratic system that enabled his rise to power. (Nearly a century ago, there was another democratically elected leader who used the system to rise, only to destroy it and take ruthless control of the country and wreak war and devastation on the world.)  

As I explained to a young person who is to the left of me on the Israel war (OK, it’s my daughter), and who had been very queasy at the prospect of voting for Biden: you will have many chances in your life to vote for someone younger and more aligned with your position on this and other issues, but only if you vote for Biden in this election.

The same now goes for independents and principled Republicans who bridle at the prospect of voting for Kamala Harris. Liz Cheney and a growing number of other Republican leaders with a measure of integrity and patriotism – including many who served in Trump’s cabinet or other high positions in his administration – recognize that the only way to preserve our Constitution-based system is to prevent Donald Trump from ever inhabiting the Oval Office again.

It's strange to see Liz Cheney, with whom I disagree on just about every policy issue, campaigning with Vice President Harris. But it is also heartening. This is true patriotism. Cheney has suffered real consequences, losing office and subjecting herself to a constant barrage of calumny, by putting country above party, recognizing our common bond and our common interest as Americans in the face of a dire threat.

I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted and depressed by the political culture of the last nine years, amplified and leveraged by Donald Trump, where hate and fear and outrage rule and the other party is viewed not merely as having a different point of view, but as the enemy. We are all Americans, and I would love to get back to a place where I can have reasonable discussions on political issues with my more conservative friends and neighbors, in Wakefield and the wider world. Remember that?

The only way it will happen is if we preserve our democratic system and vote for leaders who will represent, and listen to, all Americans. Let’s move on as a country and turn the page on the Donald Trump era. Please vote for Harris-Walz on November 5^th.

© Jeff Kehoe