I want Harris to win, but the Democrats still have problems if she gets elected

Let me be clear at the outset. I want Vice President Kamala Harris to win. I’ve spent the better part of the last two to three months on the ground in one battleground state after another, encouraging independents and Republicans to vote for her. I’m part of the Republicans for Harris campaign. And the main reason I want Harris to win is because former President Donald Trump is completely unfit to hold office. The man who refused to allow the 2020 election, who has indicated he will refuse to allow this election if he loses, is a danger to this country and should never sit in the Oval Office again.

Harris, by focusing much more on the policy front, has made it much easier for me to get Republicans to vote for her. But when it comes to the health and viability of these two political parties, I worry about the negative consequences for each party if it wins. Sounds confusing? Let me explain.

The Democratic Party has real problems that have gone unresolved for quite some time, and a Harris victory would be the only excuse party leaders need to continue ignoring these lingering issues. As the Republican Party evolved into an anti-democratic, authoritarian-embracing cult, Democrats could simply point to the other guys and say, “Look, they’re burning our house down, they’re attacking our democracy, vote for us. . We are normal.” And it has generally worked. The perceived threat of MAGA Republicans has carried Democrats to better-than-expected results in 2018, 2020 and 2022 — and could propel them to victory again on Tuesday.

But that victory may not be good for the Democratic Party’s long-term prospects. Democrats have lost touch with the American working class – regardless of race. They have become the party of wealthy, educated elites. This is anecdotal, of course, but if I had a dollar for every conversation I’ve had over the last five or six years with an ordinary working-class man or woman who told me some variation of – “Joe, I know Trump I know that MAGA can be kind of crazy, but the Democrats are elitists who don’t understand me and look down on me” – I would be a rich guy.

The Democratic Party has lurched left and is increasingly driven by “woke” social issues that prioritize identity while dismissive of issues that working-class voters of all races and ethnicities care about – such as crime, inflation and the border . This condescension toward so many voters who can’t relate to coastal elites in academia and the media provided the opening Trump needed eight years ago. He spoke directly to these people. Sure, Trump is a demagogue and he’s lying to these people and trying to scare them, but the perception they have is that Trump, unlike the Democrats, at least listens to them.

A Harris victory would be a victory for the country — and could be the final curtain on Trump’s improbable and historically destructive political career. But it would also give Democrats all the excuses they need to avoid any meaningful investigation into how this race got so close.

Think about this: Would Harris win on Tuesday if the Republican nominee were anyone other than Donald Trump? If Harris loses, the party would have no choice but to look inward and wonder how this man could have defeated his candidate in two of the last three elections. There would finally be a real, honest and difficult assessment of the party’s problems. It would be painful and take a few years. But at least it would happen. And it might help the party correct its course.

Assessing a Trump victory for the Republican Party is much easier. My biggest concern for the Republican Party is that a Trump victory will mean the absolute end of my former party. MAGA, Trump and Trumpism will be fully validated, and there will be no return to a party of freedom, free markets, free trade and limited government. The MAGA Party – an authoritarian, intolerant, hyper-nationalist party of big government is here to stay. Young Republican candidates will all embrace this MAGA ideology. If Trump wins, the GOP will be MAGA forever.

Yes, our country comes first. Our democracy comes first. Therefore, Trump must lose and Harris must win. But our two major political parties both have major problems. If Harris wins, the Democratic Party’s problems will likely get worse. If Trump wins, the Republican Party will be lost forever to MAGA, leaving the United States without a true conservative party – only a liberal party and an authoritarian personality cult.