This is part of Wedge Issues, a pop-up advice column about politics, running now through the election. Submit a question here—it’s anonymous!
Dear Wedge Issues,
My 19-year-old daughter, a committed radical, is certainly no fan of Donald Trump. However, in this, her first presidential election, she’s not particularly fond of Kamala Harris, whom she thinks of as a cop. She seems to think RFK Jr. is a clown, so I’m not really worried about her voting for him, but I am worried about her not voting at all or voting for, like, “Karl Marx” or “Skibidi Toilet.” She’s a fiercely independent young woman who respects us, her parents, broadly but definitely thinks we’re bourgeois liberals on political issues. Should I press her on this issue and forcefully make the case for Kamala? Or should I ease off for fear of pushing her too hard (or, IDK, corrupting the democratic process or whatever)?
—Communist Daughter
Dear Communist Daughter,
Your daughter’s first election as an eligible voter! That’s a milestone. And she already has intense political convictions and strong opinions? You’re off to a good start. I’ll answer this thoughtful question in two ways: first, assuming she doesn’t live in a swing state, then with a caveat if she happens to be a swing-state voter.
But first, consider that your daughter might have a point, even if it’s one you disagree with. Without getting too deep into specifics, it is very possible for your daughter to have real and substantive objections to Kamala Harris’ candidacy. Despite the Democratic Party’s attempt to buff out some of the stains on her record as a prosecutor, there is plenty from her time in law enforcement to be troubled by, for fire-breathing radicals and good-government liberals alike. Her reputation as a “cop” is not for nothing; for example, her role in maintaining California’s horrifically overcrowded prisons even after the Supreme Court called the situation a constitutional violation—you can read more about that here—was not a proud one.
And technically, there isn’t a ton known about her substantive presidential ambitions: Her website’s policy page, recently published, is cursory (though her platform is trickling out), and she’s reversed course on some big-ticket policy pledges like Medicare for All, which she co-sponsored during her brief time in the Senate. She’s come out very strong on enshrining abortion rights into law, but she’s light on the all-important mechanisms that could make this actually happen. (Is she getting rid of the filibuster? For everything? Forever?) And to go back to the cop thing again, Harris has chosen to lead with her prosecutorial work in her national sales pitch. If your daughter is able to articulate what specifically it is that makes her disinclined to vote for Harris based on that record, it sounds to me as if she’s actually taking the democratic exercise seriously.
Still, voting is incredibly important—and you are correct that there is not some viable third option. Voting against Kamala for any of the above reasons, depending on where your daughter lives, could help contribute to a disaster for her own political priorities (aka a second Trump presidency), while winning little. So here’s how I’d proceed:
It’s important to remind your daughter that all candidates are flawed and most politicians are sort of hateable in some way. That doesn’t mean she should opt out. It’s her first election, and I think the most important thing is to encourage the development of a regular relationship with civic participation. I doubt you want her to remember the dawn of her voting life as a time she was browbeaten by her parent into voting for a candidate she didn’t believe in. Given youth voter participation rates, it is a triumph enough for her to vote. But the election in November is happening not just at the level of the presidency. So if it’s up for negotiation, and she does not live in a swing state, encourage your daughter to do whatever she wants at the top of the ticket. Yes, even to vote for “Karl Marx” or “Skibidi Toilet.” Then, also encourage her to vote strategically in the House race of the district in which she lives and to be thoughtful about how she votes on other local races within her community.
It’s not a perfect solution. But there are probably a lot of very consequential races further down the ballot in her district, be they propositions or municipal-level stuff—elections in which one vote counts for a lot and your daughter’s leftist influence would be more greatly felt. Local election matters can be abstruse, but they are consequential. So your daughter could look cool in a twofold way: by actively voting for something she believes in, and not voting for something she doesn’t believe in. (I hope, by the way, that it’s not too rude to assume that part of your daughter’s reticence to vote for Harris is rebellion, but she is a teenager, after all!)
Also, there’s a strong case to be made that control of the House is just as important as if not more important than the presidency, given that the House is where the critical spending bills originate. Voting for a House rep probably doesn’t compromise the principled moral stance your kid is taking, but it still encourages active participation in a meaningful way. And the reasons for voting for a Democratic House rep would, I think, be persuasive even to a young radical.
The difference in outcomes between a Democratic House majority and a Republican House majority are gigantic. The policy priorities of a Democratic House are already clearer than Harris’ platform, and it’s a pretty left-wing charter—if the votes are there to get it done.
Democrats are aiming to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations and greatly expand poverty-beating social services across the board: everything from Social Security to the child tax credit. Republicans want to renew the Trump tax cuts. This is a difference in redistribution of literally trillions of dollars, which will go to either the very poor in the first case or the very rich in the second.
If your daughter lives in a safely blue district and her district rep is more aligned with her lefty values, then she can feel good about that vote. And if the rep is more conservative than she’d prefer, then she can feel good knowing that the more Democratic the margin of victory, the more pressure the rep will feel to vote in a more left-wing way—or else risk being targeted by a left-wing primary challenger in the future. Also, representatives are more responsive to calls and emails and organizing pressure from constituents, generally speaking. Your daughter can really make her voice heard! The exercise will also encourage her to take downballot races seriously in the future. Even though they are way less flashy than the race for leader of the free world, downballot races are incredibly consequential for communities—and the democratic system—when all is said and done.
But what if you live in a swing state? Well, then, it’s a different approach entirely. In that case I would say: Congratulations! You—a 19-year-old communist—happen to be in possession of a golden ticket. Fate has decreed that you are among a handful of individuals who will actually decide the U.S. election. It may be common knowledge, but it bears repeating: In 2020 it was only 43,000 votes within Wisconsin, Georgia, and Arizona—0.03 percent of all ballots cast—that delivered the presidency for Joe Biden. In 2016 it was 80,000 votes across a handful of swing states that delivered Donald Trump the Electoral College victory.
So, if your daughter just so happens to be one of the likely far fewer than 100,000 Americans that gets to decide the election for the 350 million rest of us, she’s voting not just for herself or her own preferences. It’s a sort of antidemocratic demand to place on a person—to tell them to vote strategically against their own personal instincts on behalf of the broader population—but that is what you get with the antidemocratic features of our current electoral system.
Tell her this: You are one of the most powerful people in the United States—arguably, actually, in the world. (This is news that any teenage radical should be delighted to find out.) But with that responsibility comes some hard deliberations: You actually need to seriously consider unfortunate trade-offs, including who is the lesser of two evils. If neither candidate shares your political values, which one is going to be most receptive to pressure or advocacy in the direction of the things you care about?
If by November the Harris campaign has failed to reach your daughter and assuage her concerns enough to convert her into a voter—the country is full of teenagers who probably feel similarly, so it’s worth remembering that this would be a meaningful failure on the campaign’s part too—I think imbuing your daughter with more agency and responsibility (downballot races!) is better than a pressure campaign that feels like blackmail or being scolded. Kamala Harris herself would probably say that sustained democratic engagement is a bigger triumph than one single vote for president.