What would our future lives be under a President Trump or a President Harris—on the assumption that she will still be the nominee in November?
Barack Obama always seemed to treat Joe Biden with a certain degree of contempt. One image remains in my mind. Shortly after The Chosen One selected the senator from Mastercard as his running mate, the two appeared at a campaign event together. Obama took off his overcoat and handed it to Biden. Biden was his senior in both years and political longevity. But the sleek Obama treated him like a valet. The only thing he did not do was ask for a receipt. While we were always told that Joe Biden did not run in 2016 because of his mourning for his son, we have now learned that Obama told the elder vice president to stand down so as to let Hilary have her turn after Obama swiped it from her in 2008. Obama did not support Joe’s 2020 bid and famously said that there is no limit to how badly Joe could screw things up, employing far more descriptive language as the verb.
It would appear that Joe Biden, like the miserable character in a movie who always suffers at the hands of the bully, finally got some revenge. Joe was forced by Obama and the party leadership to abandon his run for the presidency. He apparently complied against his will, as his eleven-minute speech from the Oval Office gave no reason for his leaving the race and made direct mention that his enormous success merited four more years in office. But after his note—put up on X, with what appears to be a forged signature on personal letterhead and not White House stationary—he came out and forcefully endorsed Kamala Harris. Apparently, Joe either lost the script they handed him or he made up his own. Obama, Pelosi and others supposedly planned for a mini-primary at the national convention next month and the selection of a candidate with the best chance of winning. Kamala comes with a lot of baggage: she failed miserably in her one run for president, she did nothing as border czar, she talks as if she knows ten words and uses them in every combination during a speech, and she also seems unpleasant, typically asking questions in the Senate but not letting those asked answer before she would ask her next question. Like Obama treated Biden as dirt, Harris showed no respect to Jeff Sessions when he appeared before a Senate committee in his short-lived role as attorney general.
The very late and very wooden Obama endorsement would appear to support the idea that Biden finally got one over on his tormentor. Obama knows that there are far better candidates, but with everyone falling in behind Harris and the risk of dumping a black woman hanging over the party, the Obamas apparently read the ransom note and paid up. Their conversation and endorsement of Kamala sounded as if someone was holding their dog hostage and giving them a script to read if they wanted to see their canine alive again. I don’t know if they have written off the election or their power in the party should Harris win. Whatever happens, Joe and Jill finally got the drop on Barack and Michelle, and the latter never saw it coming.
One advantage that Hollywood has over the real world is that it can show alternative realities based on changed starting points. When my first semester at Harvard was rough, I tried to imagine my life at Princeton, where I had also been accepted. It’s a Wonderful Life famously showed life with and without its protagonist. So what would the world look like in 2025 with either a President Trump or President Harris. The list below is by no means complete.
*Trans
President Trump: Guys pretending to be girls banned from women’s sports. Federal ban on trans surgery for children.
President Harris: Enshrinement of the right of ersatz “trans women” to compete against biological women at all levels. Trans surgeries for children encouraged.
*Energy
President Trump: More US energy production and greater focus on gasoline engine cars. The US becomes major LNG exporter to Europe.
President Harris: Gasoline cars to be banned by 2035, focus on green alternatives, with increasing electricity prices and less reliability for delivery.
*Foreign Policy
President Trump will revert to supporting our allies, including Israel, and keeping America’s enemies in place by presenting a credible use of force as required.
President Harris: She will continue Joe Biden’s policies of weakening America’s military and encouraging America’s enemies such as China, Iran and Russia. Her focus on equity over military readiness will have real-world consequences. Israel will be pressured to act against its own interests.
*The Economy
President Trump will use a combination of tax breaks and tariffs to strengthen local manufacturing. He may help ease American companies out of China to weaken the latter.
President Harris will continue with inflationary policies that weaken the dollar and erode pensions and investments. Higher taxes and continued increased shoplifting will destroy many businesses.
*The Border
President Trump will finally close the border and start the process of ejecting millions of illegal aliens. The US borders will be like those of most countries: closed except with legal reason for entry.
President Harris will continue the free flow of individuals into the US and plan to give citizenship to millions who have already entered illegally. Towns and cities will suffer even more from the glut of people whom they cannot absorb.
The difference between the two candidates and their respective presidencies could not be more clear. President Trump would look to make America an economic powerhouse with a first-class military guarding a traditional society. President Harris would continue on the path of “fundamentally changing” America into a land overrun with illegal immigrants, with a dysfunctional military and a sputtering economy. Woke policies would destroy family and US standing in the world. May Americans choose wisely come November.
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