Robert Fritz (robertfritz.com) works as an author, composer, filmmaker, and management consultant.
NEWFANE-This election is, as has been said, the most important in our lifetime. The reason is simple and clear. Our system of government is on the line.
The old-time Republican Party no longer exists. When it did, one could argue that there was not that much of a difference between the parties. Of course, there was. It was about the function of government - how much, how little.
These were differences within the context of electoral democracy, the principle that power comes from the consent and control of the people being governed.
Democracy at its best is a collective creative process. This is hardly ever how it plays out because of the competition between parties. In the recent past, say Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, there was a civil tone to the competition. They were not, as Donald Trump now declares, "enemies."
Of course, Trump's core strategy is conflict manipulation. The voters are to be scared into voting for him because of the existential threat he hammers into his listeners: "You won't have a country anymore" unless he wins.
This is the same warning he made when he encouraged his followers to charge the U.S. Capitol to overthrow the government.
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I won't list all of Trump's offenses, depravities, and transgressions here. There are too many. But the question we hear so often is: How is it possible the election can be this close?
One factor is identity. Trump tries to pit groups against one another, his group being the "true" Americans and those who oppose him, the "other." For his followers, adverse experiences in their lives become the fault of those blasted (Jews, Blacks, Latinos, Haitians, or any other target). This is catnip to the cat.
Of course, Trump consistently lies about everything - the state of the economy, life in America, Kamala Harris, the Democrats, and his own accomplishments. He shows symptoms of dementia and other pathologies, many in the mental heath professions have warned.
So how he acts is not a surprise. What is a shock to the system is the support he gets by timid and morally bankrupt Republican politicians who are afraid to cross him, even though they know better.
Being against him is only one side of the coin. As someone said recently, "I'd vote for a stick of celery rather than vote for Trump."
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Kamala Harris is a once-in-a-lifetime titan leader. She does not indulge in identity politics, which is why she makes so little of her gender and racial heritage. She is well beyond the usual trap most politicians fall into, that of merely a problem solver. In fact, she has real vision and understanding of the relationship between final outcomes and process.
The media is insistent that she explain why she has changed her ideas about policies that she once proposed. She said her values haven't changed, an answer misunderstood by most.
One can want the same desired outcomes yet find several processes to achieve those results. Harris has the right understanding of the way process serves results and not the other way around. This is why she is practical and not an idealogue.
One of the most remarkable things about Kamala Harris is her sense of the American spirit.
You don't notice this spirit unless you are out of the country, where this spirit is often foreign. It is this almost-corny optimism so well-reflected in the old Mickey Rooney–Judy Garland films of the 1940s. ("Let's put on a show!")
It is reflected in the American culture more than any politics. It is jazz, rock 'n' roll, films, dance, art, literature, poetry, TV, and so much more. It is very much in the entrepreneurial character of small-business development. ("Let's put on a business!")
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With Kamala Harris, I feel the United States has a chance to be its best. I have no illusions that she will not be subject to the most vicious attacks of character assassinations and slander, which has become a practice of the right wing in this country, amplified by the Fox Newses of the world.
But part of her brilliant strength is to rise above the drum solo of lies and to tell the truth in the most disarming way - strong, but without resentment.
There is so much more to say. But in the end, it comes down to a profound choice for the voter.
And my vote goes to Kamala Harris.
This Voices Viewpoint was submitted to The Commons.
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