Nancy Braus, until recently an independent bookseller, is a longtime activist who contributes often to these pages.
GUILFORD-A few weeks ago, I was wallowing in pity for the 10,000th time, considering the terrible effect that yet another Trump presidency would have over the natural world, immigrants, and those who are poor, for all of us who would have to live with Project 2025 and the hideous, gloating faces of the racist right.
My partner stated the truth yet again: You never know when the switch will flip.
I am saying nothing original when I observe that the mood of the country shifted perceptibly when Joe Biden did the right thing and took himself out of a losing race to stop Donald Trump from ever again handling the reins of power.
It seemed to happen instantly.
Those of us who were doing everything in our power to get Kamala Harris into the position she now occupies suddenly went from despair to action mode.
* * *
In the decade since the United States media came into the thrall of Donald Trump, we on the left, as well as the sane centrists - the Never Trumpers - have all been frustrated and outraged at the free pass the man has received again and again.
Recently, Trump's crimes were all over the newly released Jeffrey Epstein papers - no major media considered his sex crimes worth an inch of space. We all know this is true. Trump has gobbled up all the air time, and much of the media has been terrified of challenging him.
After allowing ourselves to be pushed around, bullied by a bunch of cruel, often very stupid, sometimes freakish (Steve Bannon?), always mysogynist and racist men for a decade, we are ready to fight back.
We protested when Roe v. Wade was overturned by a bunch of liars in the Supreme Court - all of whom stated under oath during their confirmation hearings that they would respect precedent.
We were forced to listen to media figures making totally ridiculous and, yes, weird, concepts like "alternative facts," "birtherism," and librarians as "groomers of children" into something that needed to be treated with some level of "equal airtime" instead of stating the obvious: This stuff is loony toons.
We are ready for this fight.
* * *
Kamala Harris is a good candidate, and I always felt she was underestimated. Once I saw her skills as a public speaker regarding women's bodily autonomy, the deal was sealed.
This moment is about Harris but about so much more than Harris.
Having grown up during the activist movement of the late '60s and structured my life around progressive activism, I think I can spot a nascent movement.
Millions of Americans are feeling our power, and many have already done something for Harris's campaign: making a donation, purchasing T-shirts and lawn signs online, participating in the Zoom calls (which were morale boosters, fund raisers, and community builders), writing about Harris, and showing up at her first rallies.
We are feeling a release of a tension that has gripped the sane population of the United States.
For so long, we have wondered how these selfish, ignorant, hateful men - Donald Trump and his cadre of nasty boys - have been able to flimflam millions of Americans who do not benefit in any way from his tax cuts for the rich, restrictions on the rights of women and non-white citizens, and climate destruction.
We have wondered why we, the majority, were feeling so helpless, angry, and ineffective as we feared that our rights would be stripped down to the point that we would become an incubator for the ruling class.
This new national mood is one of relief, of watching a powerful Black and Indian woman take the reins of resistance to the MAGA cult.
* * *
I am Jewish - optimism does not come easily to me. I am fighting this sense that "we got this" with every fiber of my being, because overconfidence at this time would be deadly.
Harris is bolstered by millions of us who plan to structure our autumn activities around making sure that Trump and his minions go down.
But this campaign will entail a lot more than the rigors of a normal one. The Trumpers have their claws in the electoral process. The cheating will be epic - the Republicans are purging voters of color as I write this, and they are figuring out ways to try to undermine the amazing referendum process in some states that will bring out voters who might normally stay home.
They have already stated that they plan to intimidate voters at the polls. We may need poll watchers at every Republican state polling place to document this B.S.
Trump, his running mate J.D. Vance, and the entire squad of weirdo losers they have assembled sure look like they are going down, but the structural advantages that they have taken every advantage of, from gerrymandering to the electoral college, will need to be overcome.
If we want to avoid the horrors of Christofascism, we can't let our guard down.
So I am telling anyone who asks: Do something every day to get Harris elected. Write something, wear something, talk with doubters, send a donation, volunteer.
Once we defeat Trump and his monstrous band of freaks, we can then fight for the changes we need to make for the world to push through the climate disaster and attempt to reverse course, to fix the clearly terribly destructive Supreme Court, and get the hell out of arming Israel.
But none of this will happen if we don't defeat the fascists.
This Voices Viewpoint was submitted to The Commons.
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