Kamala Harris Can’t Just Defeat Trump, She Also Needs To Defeat Trumpism

In the palpable excitement over Vice President Kamala Harris’ ascension as the Democratic Party’s standard-bearer, and the remarkable fundraising haul in the hours after President Biden’s decision not to seek reelection, it is critical that we not lose focus on the big picture: Defeating Trump isn’t enough. We must defeat Trumpism to continue to transform America into a more “perfect union.”

The Supreme Court’s landmark July 1 decision granting broad immunity to the former president for so-called “official acts” exacerbated the dangers Trump poses if he is reelected, with the power of the government in one hand and the Project 2025 playbook in the other. In her blistering dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson noted, “If the structural consequences of today’s paradigm shift mark a step in the wrong direction, then the practical consequences are a five-alarm fire that threatens to consume democratic self-governance and the normal operations of our Government.”

Even if Trump loses on Nov. 5, he will continue to have sycophants in power at local, county, state, and federal levels. We will still wake up on Nov. 6 in a nation where women do not have complete autonomy over their bodies; where it’s harder to vote than to obtain a driver’s license in some areas; where income inequality remains a persistent problem.

The election must be framed as a choice between what Harris and the Democrats will boldly do to preserve democracy versus what President Trump and Trumpism will do to permanently destroy it. Democrats should immediately add four initiatives to the party platform and Harris’ stump speech.

Expanding the Supreme Court

The high court is out of touch with the realities of American life. The configuration of having nine Justices dates to 1869, when the U.S. population stood at only about 38 million. Now, we have more than 330 million people. It’s time to add four or six more justices in the mold of Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown, whose positions on major issues such as deadly assault weapons and abortion are much more representative of American majorities.

Abolishing the Electoral College

The creation of the Electoral College was, in part, a political workaround for the persistence of slavery, part of the same backroom deals that resulted in the “three-fifths” compromise. The latter system was ultimately abolished, but its companion compromise lives on, resulting in an electoral map made up of a few “swing states” each presidential election cycle. If the American people are ultimately the arbiters of who shall occupy the Oval Office, the popular vote should determine the outcome. The Electoral College is an antiquated, antidemocratic system in which five presidents have been elected without the most votes.

Ending the Filibuster

The political maneuver in the Senate has been used to block crucial bills including anti-lynching legislation. Abolishing the filibuster would mean that the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, Women’s Health Protection Act and Paycheck Fairness Act could finally be signed into law. Yes, eliminating the filibuster would remove an important tool for the minority to defeat legislation. But it would also mean a scant majority in the House and Senate could accomplish major legislative victories.

Automatic Voter Registration and Mail-in Voting

It’s past time for the entire nation to join the handful of states that allow elections to be conducted by mail. We also need federal laws to automatically register people to vote when they interact with certain government agencies. If the keys to the White House are handed over by “the people” every four years, then all the people should be empowered to cast their ballots — not just those who can navigate complicated registration processes and make it to a polling place on election day.

Some of these are policy positions that the Democratic National Committee has actively resisted through the years. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

Of course, MAGA extremists will balk at these initiatives as Democratic power grabs and weaponization of a so-called “deep state.” So what? Let them offer to expand the court with more justices like Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. Let them defend the Electoral College system, calling it American as apple pie. Let them threaten to use the absence of the filibuster to ram through anti-democratic measures when they are in power. Let them spin stories about elections being illegitimate — myths driven by their own fear of every person having the right to vote, especially people of color and those with different views than their own.

When asked whether we have a monarchy or a republic, Benjamin Franklin wisely remarked, “A republic if you can keep it.” Republicans are saying the quiet part out loud about their desire to turn America into a monarchy — or, arguably, a theocracy — via Project 2025. It’s time for the Democrats to make clear how they will keep our democracy intact.

Rev. Kevin T. Taylor is the pastor of Israel AME Church in Albany, the oldest Black church in Upstate New York.

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