Kamala Harris might be America’s first Black woman president. I can’t tell you how happy that sentence makes me. I’d spent the previous couple of weeks terrified that the Dem-on-Dem fighting wouldn’t stop and that if Biden left the race, we’d immediately start fighting over the nominee and damage Harris’ inevitable candidacy in the process. I think America is ready for a Harris presidency, but after 2016 and 2020, I wasn’t sure that the Democratic party was. To my great relief, I was wrong. And I’ve never been happier to be wrong in my life.
The MAGA Right’s response to the news so far has been predictable and weird. I had to laugh when I read that Republican Speaker Mike Johnson urged his caucus not to make racist comments about Harris. Another member of the Caucus reportedly told colleagues, “We’ll give you a cheat sheet if you don’t know what else to talk about.” Good luck with that, guys.
We know how MAGA will come from Harris because we’ve seen it before. We have ample research on the abuse of and disinformation targeted at women of color candidates, and we know that Kamala Harris is subjected to more online abuse than any other candidate in the US. We also know that the tech platforms (who have access to the same public research, in addition to internal data) won’t do enough to stop these attacks from being overamplified on their platforms.
And let’s be clear: we’re not just talking about fringe online communities or more mainstream Right-Wing media figures. As Speaker Johnson’s memo reminds us, a lot of the racist, sexist abuse, conspiracies, and disinformation comes from Republican Elected officials. Who happily incite violence against Harris, her colleagues, and marginalized communities without care for the consequences of their rhetoric.
Here’s the good news: The Right’s strategies and tactics don’t change. We know how they’ll come for Harris, and we’re prepared for it. Harris also had an army of online defenders and influential supporters that’s grown exponentially over the last week. She’s also captured the online zeitgeistat a velocity I’ve never seen before; I’m gobsmacked. Political views aside, as someone who used to get paid to help political candidates harness online energy, I know that I’d rather be Kamala Harris than Donald Trump right now.
Harris offers a vision for a better future in contrast to the fascist hellscape MAGA wants America to be. In her launch video, Harris declares, “We choose freedom” over “a country of chaos, of fear, of hate.” Saving democracy never felt like enough because it wasn’t.
I can’t tell you that Kamala Harris will win the election. I’ve learned that I can’t predict what’s going to happen next in politics anymore. But I believe Kamala Harris is the best candidate to take on Trump, contrasting her character and record against his. Now, it’s on us to have her back and help her win.
This is an excerpt from Ctrl Alt-Right Delete, a newsletter produced in partnership with COURIER — a civic media company. It was republished with the author’s permission. Subscribe HERE.
