#WTH No to Harris

And yes, there are limits to my concerns about Donald Trump

A small confession: I’ve been traveling for work, and haven’t had time to keep up with sharing our podcast highlights and show notes. I started one on the China threat — we had a brilliant event/pod, I’ll write on it later this week — but all I can think about is the election. It’s one of the perils of living in Washington, and this year, it’s even more consuming. So I hope you’ll indulge me as I share some thoughts…

Yesterday before a TV hit, I was chatting with a well known journalist (doesn’t matter who), and we got to talking about Trump, Harris, Liz Cheney, the American public, the constitution, the economy, and all that jazz. It was pretty civil until I said there was no way in hell I’d vote for Harris, “even in order to save the constitution,” as it was rather ridiculously put to me. And that reminded me forcibly of a story about my late boss, Senator Jesse Helms, and the then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

The two had forged a pretty chummy relationship, and credit to her for making that effort. As a result, we shared questions for hearings beforehand with her, and were generally pretty forward leaning when you consider the partisan and Executive/Legislative divides. But Helms opposed the President on a treaty, and was leading the floor fight to defeat it. Albright kept calling and calling, and finally Helms turned to his staffer and asked, “Why does she keep calling?” to which the staffer responded, “She thinks you’re friends.” Helms shook his head, and responded in his slow, southern way: “Then she is about to learn the limits of our friendship.”

That’s the thing: I am a conservative. It’s not a religion, and I’m not signed up to every aspect of the old school conservatism of Ronald Reagan and Bill Buckley. But I am signed up to most of them. That’s why, when I was asked in 2016 to sign a letter opposing Donald Trump and endorsing Hillary Clinton, I refused. It’s why, though I will likely not pull the lever for Donald Trump in 2024, I am more adamant about not pulling the lever for Kamala Harris. I believe she is a danger to the principles I hold dear. Everything in her record leads me to believe she will take America in the wrong direction, and yes, I believe what she told us in her candidacy in 2019, and about the filibuster, and about the Supreme Court. Those are the limits of my deep doubts about Donald Trump.

I have many friends whom I respect who believe that Trump is a danger to our nation, our constitution, to good policy, and good people. I hope they are wrong; for the most part, I believe their fears are wildly exaggerated. Like them, I cannot forget or forgive January 6. Intellectually, I also understand that, for the most part, their votes for Kamala Harris are not an endorsement of her policy view; they are a blocking action, designed to deny Donald Trump the White House. That’s their choice, but I cannot do it. Indeed, I hope Harris is defeated. (On this question of who has “disqualified” themselves for the presidency, watch this short video from Erick Erickson.)

So let’s circle back to my chat with this journo yesterday. He asked me how I could sign up to Trump’s protectionist fervor; I don’t. He asked me how I could tolerate his penchant for tyrants; I don’t. He asked me why I didn’t care about the budget-busting economic ideas Trump likes to throw out; I do care. And then he threw in a few slurs against the people who vote for Trump. This is how the Democrats see the tens of millions of people who vote Republican. And after the longest throat-clearing intro ever, that’s what I want to talk about here.

My friends and family are for the most part members of the expert, bi-coastal class that Trump has made the enemy. We are free traders, free marketeers, pro-Ukraine, pro-Israel, anti-Orban, pro-(legal) immigration, anti-union, old schoolers. We liked George W. Bush, Mitt Romney, John McCain, and all those guys. We would all have liked to vote for Nikki Haley on November 5. But we are also democrats, small d. And the public had a message for us in 2016, and likely will have another in 2024, and it’s about damn time we listened harder. (I leave Marc out here, he has been listening for longer than I.)

If the Republican Party and the idea of what constitutes conservatism is not to be redefined solely by the Trump/Vance ideas, then it needs to adapt, faster. This is what has doomed the Democratic Party: It has adapted, sure; it has become the Republican Party of old, dominating institutions, segregating communities by class and religion and race (yes, this is what DEI does), looking down its Harvard-educated nose at the hot polloi who attend Trump rallies and rail against high prices, crime, and the uncontrolled waves of illegal immigration. They are fools; should we be too?

Americans who have been left behind by free trade should have seats at the table with free traders. Ditto for the social conservatives who dominate and the more liberal conservatives who trend culturally libertarian. And Americans who prioritize their own communities above those overseas must make common cause with defense hawks. All of us care about the millions being crushed by the price of milk, the cost of housing, rampant illegal immigration, crime-ridden communities, and our kids’ terrible education.

Republicans and conservatives like me — old school — need arguments for the challenges above, and they can’t be the same answers of yore, nor can they be the Democrats’ rote: “We have a government program for that.” We need to figure out how to fix the problems that plague forgotten Americans, and how to do so in a way that doesn’t ruin our economy, abandon our principles, or give free rein to our enemies abroad. My colleagues and I spend a lot of time thinking about those things, but conservatives need to do more. I like that fight, I believe in the integrity and sincerity of people who are looking for answers that neither the far Left that dominates the Democratic Party nor the reasoned Reaganism of the old Republican Party supply.

Some of my friends are going to tell me we’ve already lost, that the Republican Party, and with it, real conservatism, is gone. We can’t beat ‘em, so let’s all become Democrats and use Kamala’s years in office to plot for the future reincarnation of George H. W. Bush or something. Sorry, I’m not a Democrat, and never will be. I’ll work to persuade Trump’s more fervent supporters of the things I believe in, and hope that, as in 2017-2020, I succeed more often than I fail.

Thanks for allowing me this space to share. What the Hell are we doing about the threat from China is coming soon.

PS I know that many of you, like Marc, will tell me that not voting is a cop out, and that a write-in is effectively a vote for Kamala. I disagree. As a naturalized citizen, I thank my lucky stars for the privilege of casting a vote. But my ballot is a precious thing, and I cannot pull the level for cynical purposes — to stop Trump or to stop Harris. Feel free to disagree with me, kindly please.