Your Vote Doesn't Begin Or End At The Ballot

Candice Lola is a horror writer, essayist, and writing instructor based in Brooklyn, NY. She holds a master’s from NYU where she studied Black protest literature, human rights, and creative writing. A TEDx presenter and longtime editor, Candice’s literary courses have been shared at Midnight & Indigo, Arizona State University, and small bookstores. Her longform and short story writing has been featured in publications including HuffPost, Honeysuckle, Today, Curs, Skidmark Zine, Kinks & Culture, Furious Lit, and Midnight & Indigo.

In this latest entry in her ongoing series covering the 2024 election, Candice reflects on progressive disillusionment and how voters can reclaim their voices throughout the remainder of the election cycle.

As the 2024 election looms closer, it feels like we’re staring down the barrel of a gun. But who’s holding it to our heads? The political landscape is a battleground of apathy and fury. A comparison of both sides feels like a shoot-off duel to the dissatisfaction of the American people. On the right, we have a party threatening to drag us back to the past, drooling for autocratic leadership. On the left, we have a party that has been dangling social reform and economic support for decades while aligning with the very issues we protest. It feels like we are voting between a conservative rock and a progressive hard place.

Biden And Progressive Disillusionment

Under Biden, the administration faced a storm of criticism. Support for Israel and a failure to meet several campaign promises fueled public anger. Progressives exhausted the democratic energy with calls, letters, and peaceful strikes. We were met with evasive answers, full voicemails, and dead ends. Disillusioned and desperate, we have taken to the streets, only to encounter riot police and violence. The democratic process feels like it is unraveling. Many progressives threw up their hands and refused to vote for a candidate who would not listen to his base. For negotiating their power as constituents they were called single-issue voters who expected perfection from their candidate, and even accused of handing the election over to Trump.

Inside the Biden camp, however, lawmakers were urging Biden to leave the race, including rumored input from former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The timing of Biden announcing his leave and endorsing Kamala Harris was a socially impressive strategy. This move was seen as a strategic effort to invigorate the base, particularly younger and minority voters; an attempt to revive a crumbling party.

The relief the move is attempting feels like the crux of the in-fighting. Candidates for president should absolutely be questioned on their policies; in fact, a good leader welcomes this process. Presiding over a silent populace is not leading, it’s ruling. We are not voting for a ruler or a savior, and we are not realizing an ancestral dream; we are voting for a representative of our interests. For that, Harris needs to answer to her base, just like Biden and Obama before her.

Four years ago we sat at a similar intersection. The favorite of young voters, Bernie Sanders, left the presidential race, leaving behind Biden as the party’s choice. The progressive wing’s discontent was palpable, creating fissures within the party. Fans of Sanders were not quiet about their disappointment. In a bid to salvage his failing campaign, the Biden camp looked to their recent party competitor for help. Together Sanders and Biden developed six task forces around young voter interests; immigration, climate change, health care, criminal justice reform, the economy, and education. It can be argued that Biden’s choice of Harris as a running mate was also guided by the renewed visibility of Black women in the political sphere, her support for criminal justice reform, and her ability to confront Biden’s own past of supporting harmful policies, like segregated busing. His choice of Harris as a running mate, with her track record on criminal justice and race, was both a strategic and symbolic gesture that just barely edged the Democrats over the finish line.

What Progress Has The Biden Presidency Made?

Biden’s presidency has been a mixed bag. He’s achieved about 30 percent of his nearly 100 campaign promises—positive moves like expanding healthcare and improving refugee admissions. About 50 percent of his campaign promises frustratingly remain in limbo, like student loan forgiveness, raising the minimum wage, and updating the Voting Rights Act. We have a tentative and dissatisfied voter base to thank for pushing the previously moderate campaign promises to more progressive ones. We have disgruntled voters to thank for the progress we’ve made in national governing so far.

To be clear, this progress can be measured in inches, not miles. Biden did hold true his rumored promise to rich donors in 2019 that “nothing would fundamentally change” if he was elected president. Indeed, the wealth gap has remained despite national gains, defined chiefly by age and race. Police fatalities have increased since 2020, and Biden’s unwavering political and financial support of the Israel-Hamas war arguably delivered the final blow to his presidential career.

Positives And Negatives Of Kamala Harris's Campaign

Kamala Harris began her tenure with promising stances on LGBTQIA+ rights, reproductive health, and education. The Democrats have positioned her as the answer to Project 2025. Her strong history in politics, her intersection of identities, and her strong stances on race and reproductive rights have worked overtime to quell the fears of democratic constituents. In her most recent speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Harris strongly addressed protecting voter rights, strengthening the middle class, and addressing the housing shortage. Her stance on the heaviest issue for the Democrats, the war in Gaza, appeared less aligned, calling for a ceasefire in Palestine and reasserting U.S. support for Israel. In her speech Harris said that she would work to assure the Palestinian people's right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination, a nod to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Her quote is inspiring, and from some angles it feels like there is positive movement within the party. June Rose (@junesfinalrose), an Uncommitted delegate based in Washington DC tweeted “I just spoke with a Harris delegate at #DNC2024. He said he had already signed the letter demanding @VP to support a permanent ceasefire + arms embargo bc another Harris delegate asked him. They’re organizing themselves now! The movement for a free Palestine is spreading in the DNC.” The DNC’s first ever panel for Palestinian rights was also conducted. Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan shared her testimony of working during the massacre in Gaza. She described children with injuries and community loss so harrowing that a panel member had to excuse themselves to contain their emotion. Uncommitted delegate Sabrina Odah from Washington state reported that reactions to requests to sign a petition for an immediate ceasefire and an arms embargo have been overwhelmingly positive.

But Harris’ remarks also feel like a soft address of the growing distance between the party and its constituents. The aforementioned Uncommitted movement- which is anti-war- was the first time we saw the DNC start to panic around another Biden appointment. Less than a month ago Biden was apparently determined to stay in the race “until the wheels fall off.” In June over 100,000 people cast “uncommitted” ballots during the presidential primary in Michigan, a purple state Biden barely carried in 2020. Fellow purple states Wisconsin and Minnesota began organizing in the same way. Biden was reportedly incensed by his wilting poll numbers. After his debate with Trump dropped his approval rating below the hope of reelection, Biden endorsed Harris in his stead.

Allies of Biden slammed the Uncommitted movement, again threatening that it could swing the election towards Trump. They maintain the belief that the votes will be there in November because according to Tim Walz, “ Democrats are going to come home. They know that the choice is democracy versus totalitarian chaos.”

Democracy is a system of government where the people hold the power to make decisions. Peaceful protest is a first amendment right. Yet while Walz graciously accepted Harris’ invitation to join her ticket inside the United Center in Chicago, dozens of pro-Palestine protesters outside were being intimidated and arrested, including press. The DNC refused to platform a Palestinian American during the conference. Pro-Palestine protesters were mocked and even attacked by convention-goers, even being hit with I <3 Joe signs. Eerie. Harris’s carefully crafted veneer of neutrality is crumbling, prenomination protest crowds are beginning to grow again, and the party’s response to dissent is a feeble attempt to suppress genuine grievances.

Progressives do not want to be “waited out” until November. We need to be heard, period.

How Can Voters Make Their Voices Heard This Election Cycle?

So what’s a voter to do?

Speak up.

From a distance Kamala Harris looks like a beacon of hope, especially in the face of a crumbling infrastructure, a failing middle class, and a long procession of white and male presidents to point the blame at. She is smart and qualified and alert. She scares Trump.

But Harris, with her impressive credentials and symbolic significance, is not a panacea. And voting for the office of president is not the end of our concern or our involvement. Harris opened her speech to the DNC with, “My entire career I’ve only had one client, the people.” Without direct action, the people seem to be in for another term of terror overseas and empty promises at home. Without the people, the Democrats don’t have a win.

Now is the time to make our voices heard. Now is the time to fight for Palestinian rights, to demand global justice, to press for domestic reforms. We, the people, must act with urgency and determination. The coming months are critical. Will we accept the political charade or will we demand real change? Progressives must decide whether to keep pushing for a vision of justice or resign ourselves to a political system that continues to fail us. The choice is in our hands—let’s use it. The time to scream is now—our next chapter depends on it. We have to stare that barrel down with wisdom and determination. It’s time to reclaim our home, take back our power, and ensure our future for the advancement of all of us.

Stay tuned for more on the 2024 election from Candice Lola! To learn more about her work, visit candicelola.com or follow @candice_lola on Instagram.