National Politics Have Become Local

Santa Barbara is one of the most beautiful places to live in the country. It often feels isolated from national issues and politics. It is not, especially in 2024. Today, because of Donald Trump and what used to be the Republican Party all national politics have become local.

Regardless of which “team” you’ve been on in the past (Red or Blue) it’s critical to understand that this election cannot be viewed as a “team” sport. There are a myriad of national polices that will be on the ballot — social security, clean air and water, affordable medicine, worker safety standards, and reductions in exposure to harmful toxins; to name a few — which impact us locally. The national elections will also decide whether, locally, we remain living in a democracy, succumb to the ravages of climate change, and if women will become wards of the state regarding their reproductive health.

If you’re thinking of not voting, considering voting Third Party, or a young voter thinking about not voting for Biden because of the Israeli-Hamas War,please think again.

Third party votes are protest votes. A Third Party candidate for POTUS has never won an election. In 2024 they would be votes for Trump.

No Labels unsuccessful search for a “unity” candidate would have taken votes away from Biden. Votes for RFK, an anti-vaxxer, and Cornel West, neither of which have the capacity to be POTUS, would do the same.

Young voters are a pivotal election constituency who can help Biden win. However, 56 percent of Democrat-leaning voters ages 18-34 are thinking of not voting for President Biden because of his support for Israel. As tragic and brutal as the Israel-Hamas war is, protesting it by not voting for Biden would also be tragic. Israel/Palestine has been unresolved since Israel was created. Biden, who supports a two-state solution, has a better chance of impacting it than Trump, who has no understanding for the intricacies of this conflict.

The election is not about the candidates’ ages, but what they stand for. These are both old men. Trump, who is showing signs of senility, is presenting the dark myth that “America is dying.” It is obviously not! Biden is a pro democracy leader capable of ensuring the existence of the free world through alliances; defending against the Right’s assault on women being able to control their bodies, and understanding the world is facing an existential threat from climate change.

As to how electing Trump will impact us locally, he has stated he intends to replace tens of thousands of career civil servants, who relate to science and expertise, with uninformed MAGA loyalists. This would ensure that, heaven forbid, if we have another epidemic, the federal government (Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Controls (CDC)) would not be relying on medical science to respond to it, just politics.

The quality of our local water and air is also on the ballot. The first Trump administration rolled back more than 100 polices focused on clean air and water, which impact our health in Santa Barbara. A Biden administration, relying on science, would ensure clean air and water.

Donald Trump’s threats to democracy are, however, larger and more frightening than his would-be attacks on our administrative agencies (which he calls the “deep state”). He wants to be a dictator, with three-quarters of Republicans supporting his being a dictator. He echoes Hitler by calling his political enemies “vermin” and promising “retribution” for his antagonists.

Locally, nationally, and internationally his authoritarian tendencies would divide us. His attacks on the press (which he calls “enemy of the people”) would deprive us of  news we can trust. Perhaps more draconian, a Trump presidency would create a national ban on abortion and ignore climate change.

Trump brags about overturning Roe v. Wade by appointing Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. And, he is committed to a national abortion ban, which would affect women living in the Tri Counties. President Biden is committed to restoring Roe legislatively if re-elected, along with a Democratic Congress.

During three weeks last July, the Earth temporarily went over the 1.5°C (2.7°F) tipping point. According to climate scientists this means that globally, and locally, there will be a “new normal” of more severe heat, wildfires, droughts, storms, sea-level rise, and flooding. Trump’s approach to climate change is “drill baby drill.” President Biden made the largest single investment in fighting global warming in U.S. History.

Down-ballot races will also be critical. The GOP is no longer the Republican Party. It has morphed into the Trump Party. About a third of the Republican members of Congress — 171 of them — are Election Deniers. Many tried to invalidate the election either in court or by disrupting election results; this includes Mike Johnson, the current Speaker of the House.

Speaker Johnson, would not put the bipartisan Senate border bill up for a vote because Trump, who wants immigration as an election theme, told him not to. He also, because of Trump’s dictate will not bring the Senate-passed bill to aid Ukraine ( a democratic country) up for a vote.

More distressing, 53 percent of Republicans, despite 60 courts saying otherwise and Trump facing 88 criminal indictments, believe Trump, not Biden, was elected president in 2020. This, even though President Biden won the Electoral College, and the popular vote by more than 7 million votes; more than any president in history.

All of this will be on the ballot in 2024, the outcome of which will have very different consequences for our local communities. As you consider voting remember: All national politics have now become local.