Katherine Howe 

Because Harris is the only honorable choice for president

My reason for supporting Kamala Harris over Donald Trump will probably sound old fashioned—but for me, it’s a matter of honor. Trump is not an honorable man. He was not honorable in his business dealings with contractors (I’m from a construction family, and we believe in paying our debts). He was not honorable in his dealings with women. He has been disingenuous in deflecting his responsibility for January 6. He did not honor the oath he took to defend the Constitution. That means he is not honorable in his relationship to our country, and what our country values: common human decency between people, a fair shake, equity of opportunity, freedom to conduct our lives as we deem fit. None of us live up fully to our national ideals of course—that’s why they are “ideals” rather than “truths.” But I believe that the heart of the American experiment beats with honorable intent, and Donald Trump does not have honor in his heart. 

Kamala Harris, in sharp contrast, is an honorable person. She is forthright in her understanding and enforcement of the law, she will surround herself with different voices speaking to the many different experiences we all have as Americans. I believe she can chart a new way forward, a path of reconciliation and progress for our nation. I haven’t always agreed with everything that has happened under the Biden administration, but I do believe that Joe Biden has led a life of honor and public service, and I see Kamala Harris as having a role in the stability and growth that our country has enjoyed over the past four years. 

I’m a member of Generation X, a famously cynical generation. But cynicism is, perhaps paradoxically, the tender underbelly of idealism. I don’t think Kamala Harris is perfect. But to my mind, she doesn’t have to be. She has to have character. She has to believe in the promise of our nation, to really believe in it, and to be willing to take risks to preserve what we have all been trying to build for the last 250 years. 

I believe that Kamala Harris is the only honorable choice for president of the United States.

Katherine Howe is a best-selling and award-winning historian and novelist.