All The Reasons You Must Turn Out In 2024

Feel free to check out my past work on my Substack and Medium blogs, which feature past takes on the 2024 election cycle and exclusive write-ups on US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, among other things. Also feel welcome to reach out to me on LinkedIn with any comments or questions. And share any posts or petitions (Change.org or MoveOn) you like.

For today, I have a different message to start off March and Spring.

Via contrainfo.com. Benjamin Netanyahu’s Favorite US President: Donald Trump.

Usually, there is a lot I say about improved messaging, outreach, and engagement by the Biden-Harris team. That still rings true, from more rigorous redistricting litigation efforts and party base community engagement around-the-clock, to building up the state parties, pursuing a national 50-State Strategy for progress up and down the ballot, and opening lines of communication to Rural America, the Industrial Heartland, and all across Trump Country.

But for today, this is a message I offer to fellow young voters like myself. First of all, this will be the first presidential election I will be voting in.

I also write here as a supporter of President Joe Biden’s re-election bid, after being skeptical of his 2020 presidential run and his ability to deliver on his promises (which I am glad to be proven wrong on). And I am a supporter of his despite the few disagreements I have with his approach or his policies.

For all voters — but especially for my fellow youth — here are all the reasons why waiting out in 2024 or casting a protest vote is not an option, and how you should shape this cycle before November through Congressional primaries and special election contests instead:

1. 2024 is not just a choice between two different ideological visions, however true that is. It is a choice between two different ways of life and two different ways of governance. Autocracy is unfortunately an option on the ballot with Donald Trump as the presumptive GOP nominee. Besides, Joe Biden is certainly not Hillary Clinton.
2. The choice is a stark one, between the disastrous presidency of a wannabe tyrant-with an even more destructive 2nd term agenda-vs. a successful presidency with an extensive track record not seen in recent decades.
3. If re-elected, President Biden can continue progress on many of the issues he has already started to tackle. With his current track record and a 2nd term, if given by voters, his Build Back Better Agenda will be among the most expansive legislative programs in history, matching both the New Deal and the Great Society.
4. On the other hand, if Trump is re-elected, we may see the greatest rollback of rights since Jim Crow, building on recent Supreme Court decisions. Furthermore, our institutions may indeed be beyond repair, and our nation may be on the verge of a constitutional crisis.
5. We have seen a successful pandemic response and economic recovery, with inflation rates falling, and record job creation. America is on the march. There is also record renewable energy creation, record investments in education and healthcare, an all-time high stock market (so much for the Biden Recession Trump warned us about), and reconstruction of our infrastructure and transportation systems for the first time in ages.
6. Foreign policy matters too. Donald Trump regards Arab Americans and Muslims as our enemies, and he is ready with restoring a Muslim ban from Day One. He will only green light Netanyahu’s humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and Putin’s war machine in Ukraine, and potentially our NATO allies in Eastern Europe.
7. Unlike Trump, Biden will remain a steadfast ally for Ukraine’s war for sovereignty against Russia and Putin’s war crimes. And he will help resolve the Gaza conflict in a way that ensures the establishment of a Palestinian state, and an intact Israel.
8. Congressional Democrats made Build Back Better possible in the first place, while Congressional Republicans have given us the most unproductive Congress since the Great Depression. With larger House and Senate majorities (fingers crossed), more of Biden’s agenda can be fully enacted.
9. Congressional Republicans failed to address issues they emphasized in 2022 — like immigration reform and public safety. Instead, they have spent your taxpayer dollars and precious time on impeachments, investigations, debt battles, and government shutdowns. Much like what they had done in Obama’s presidency.
10. Capitol Hill Democrats have sought to protect our liberties. On the other hand, Republicans in the Beltway and in our state legislatures have blocked IVF protections, abortion access, gun safety laws, voting rights laws, criminal justice reform, same-sex marriage protections, and more.
11. We need to rein in the unqualified activist, conservative kangaroo courts stacked by Trump and McConnell, which can be done only with more Biden judicial appointments and confirmations. Judges should be impartial (unlike Aileen Cannon’s pro-Trump deference in the Mar-a-Lago documents case).
12. Finally, maybe most importantly, if you want to shape Biden’s 2nd term agenda, make your start in the upcoming Congressional primaries and other races down ballot. As recent initiatives show (Michigan), organized voting power can send a clear message. Voters can shape the course of policy on issues without surrendering America to a wannabe dictator. 2024 is a rather unique opportunity to elect a generation of young, diverse progressive leaders all across the country up-and-down the ballot. Look to the lessons of the Tennessee Three.

And together, let us hold our elected leaders and special interests accountable who have taken us for granted (no better example than Kara Swisher’s inside look at Silicon Valley, and who still have a very powerful ally today in the US Commerce Department).

So it is definitely time to tune in, and not to tune out. Vote to preserve our democracy as we treasure it, and our civil liberties. Work every day to end business as usual in DC, especially the Republican dysfunction and inaction we now see today.