Editorial: Harris for president

President Joe Biden’s decision to not seek a second term was expected, anguishing to anticipate, and necessary for the good of the nation. Biden has been an exceptional leader, rescuing democracy from the organized anarchy of Jan. 6 and leading the world out of the Covid pandemic. The economy is sound and workers are gaining ground. Biden deserves credit.

Age caught up to the veteran politician. He froze up during a recent debate, and it was painful every time the cameras showed him climbing the steps onto Air Force One. At the urging of senior Democrats, no less than Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi, Biden decided to hang up his cleats after serving out his term. It took courage and humility.

Biden quickly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, as his preferred nominee when Democrats hold their national convention in Chicago next month. The party faithful quickly coalesced around the former attorney general and senator from California. If elected, she would be the first female president. It’s time to shatter that glass ceiling once and for all.

The Harris campaign raised $50 million last Sunday alone from small donations. That indicates the determination to beat Donald Trump in November. Trump should worry. He is way old. He is lost in his own fantasies. He can barely muster a good lie anymore. Pathetic, really. He needs to go away into that good night.

Trump is a convicted criminal who committed sexual assault and fraud. Thirty-four felony counts of trying to hide hush money payments to a porn star. The National Enquirer could barely make up a story like that. Yet, he is guilty as sin. A liar. A cheat. A philanderer. You wouldn’t trust him with your daughter.

Harris is smart, energetic and committed to the rule of law.

She obviously deserves the Democratic nomination. No other candidate can pull it off at this late stage. She will carry on the Biden pro-worker agenda that has great appeal in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona and Georgia. She has become quite the effective advocate for women’s rights as the Supreme Court has reshaped the law of the land.

There is absolutely no question that Vice President Harris deserves your vote as a blow against Trump’s stated authoritarian objectives: to stifle dissent, arrest his political adversaries, and blow up our economy in the process.

We assume that Iowa is not in play in the presidential contest. It does have important congressional races on the ballot around Des Moines and Davenport in the Third and First Congressional Districts. Biden was not helping them, yet Christina Bohannan and Lanon Baccam are capable of flipping those districts from red to blue. The new energy that Harris brings to the top of the ticket is a shot of oxygen for down-ballot candidates.

We could hope that a breath of fresh air with Harris would restore Iowa to its moderate good senses. Trump has an uncanny hold on this state. If he deports the undocumented immigrants, as promised, it will wreak havoc on Storm Lake specifically and the ag economy generally. His trade war with China destroyed soy export markets, requiring massive taxpayer bailouts for farmers and agribusinesses. Trump’s call to insurrection should offend every Iowan’s sense of patriotism that we lost somewhere along the way.

Kamala Harris has what it takes to lead this country. She has an ability to turn down the temperature and to narrow our divisions. She is the daughter of immigrants who knows what it is like to earn your way to the top. Her agenda is the Biden agenda: fairness to the working class, strength and security with our allies, a commitment to the democratic process and the lawful order, and a fealty to the facts and our certain reality. Trump promises chaos and contempt for freedom.

Trump is a loser. He lost to Biden, big time. He lost in court so many times we can’t keep track. He lost his insurrection — he told them go find Vice President Mike Pence but they couldn’t. He lost in the midterm elections of 2018 and 2022. He will lose again this November. Trump is yesterday’s news. Support Kamala Harris. Let’s not go back.