To Whom Much is Given

My definitive word on the Presidential race (for now)

Note: this is a long one! As promised, I’m answering the question, “Why Kamala?” and including tons of links from reputable sources. I hope you find it helpful as you think through the issues and engage with your people. Regardless of where you fall, I’m glad you’re here! - Shannan

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I recently found a screenshot from February 3 of a news story titled, “Inside the Heritage Foundation’s Plans for ‘Institutionalizing Trumpism.”  The opening quote reads, “‘People will lose their jobs, the think tank’s president says about federal workers. ‘Hopefully their lives are able to flourish in spite of that.’”¹

Six months ago, almost no one was talking about Project 2025. I, however, was immediately interested, because in more ways than one, I still view my previous employment inside the hallowed halls of The Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C.  as my first “real job”.

In 2003, I was hired as a Research Assistant in Domestic Policy Studies. This was thank, in part, to the fact that during my four-hour interview with my eventual boss,² a powerful man who wrote the (in)famous welfare reform policy of 1996, I passed an unknown conservative litmus test by revealing that Cory and I subscribed to conservative periodicals including The National Review and The Limbaugh Letter.

I’m still not sure how the dominoes fell in my direction. I always felt out of my depth. Still, if only for a moment, I was “one of them,” with their Brooks Brothers ties, seersucker summer suits, and Louis Vuitton bags. We chatted over bagels on paydays. We cheered together for the violence of war. We wore our conservative Christian values proudly. It was at a business lunch at Tortilla Coast that I learned many East Coast Christians drank alcohol without shame. At another lunch, a successful female colleague earnestly implored me to put my career goals aside sooner than later and start having babies.

My peek past the velvet ropes of their press-ready corridors convinced me of the scope of their power. I was a nobody, yet I was thrust into spaces with top Republican leaders, like Rick Santorum and Newt Gingerich. Once, on a quick run to the Hart Senate building, I was nearly plowed over by Ted Kennedy (one of our top nemeses!) Cory, who worked as a staffer in a congressional office on the Hill, says they relied on THF reports “all the time.” It was unmistakable, even to me, that in the era of George W. Bush, it was Heritage’s hand on the power spigot of American Republican politics. This is even truer, today.

In a building filled with hidden-away, unassuming policy wonks, I was the greenest newbie of all. I was good with my words and skilled at pretending to be proficient when I wasn’t. But what made me most valuable to Heritage was my knack for blind regurgitation, packaged in white, “Christian” acceptability.

The people I met during my Heritage tenure were nice without exception and exceedingly polite. As far as I could tell, they weren’t crass or hateful. Though my lens on the world was quite different than it is now, I never thought of them as power-mongrels. They cared about conservative government, which seemed to include keeping the federal government small and nimble, fortifying the military, and protecting Christian family values. All good things. Right?

What I know decades later, is that I had only scratched the surface. I didn’t see the veneer, and I certainly never got past it.

What I also know is, if The Heritage Foundation has the desire to “institutionalize Trumpism,” they will.

The Bad News

As Trump’s team tries to distance him from the wildly unpopular Project 2025, we’ve been hearing less about it. Additionally, many on the Left are taking a moment to celebrate the optimism a Harris/Walz ticket offers. It is no secret, I’m among them. The past two weeks have felt lighter. Hope feels alive.

As promised, I want to give some concrete reasons for why I’m jazzed about the Democrat ticket, particularly since until ten years ago I was a die-hard Republican with the coffee table books to prove it. First, because everything exists within context, here’s a bleak (and incomplete³) list of my top Trump alarms⁴, in no particular order.

1. Trump is on the record floating the termination of the US Constitution for his personal gain. Enough said.

2. Defying all conservative logic, Trump attempted (successfully, in some cases) to consolidate Executive (presidential) power. A recent significant example is the Trump v. United States case which sought to dismiss an indictment on the basis of presidential immunity. In June, a conservative-majority SCOTUS ruled in Trump’s favor, giving broad immunity to him and future US Presidents. In her minority dissent, Justice Sotomayor wrote, “In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.” This new legal precedent flies in the face of the former conservative playbook, which valued limited presidential power through checks and balances and the US Constitution. (It is worth noting that during the Obama administration, many powerful Republicans dubbed Barack Obama a “dictator” (and worse) for his executive orders on immigration policy.)

3. Speaking of autocrats! The most alarming aspect of Trump’s leadership might be his long history of publicly praising dictators, including this recent quote, “I’d like to congratulate Vladimir Putin for having made yet another great deal. Did you see the deal we made?” He is also smitten with Hungary’s autocratic Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, meeting with him privately and commending him often. This behavior would have previously been unconscionable – evidence of just how precipitously conservatism has pitched itself off the edge of reason. Proof that the alarm is warranted, Trump recently vowed he would lead as a dictator “on day one,” should he be re-elected.

4. DJT and the extreme MAGA iteration, which now defines the party, continues to wage a political misinformation campaign. This effectively muddies the waters of democracy and the waters of simple conversation with friends and loved ones on the other side of the aisle. Just yesterday, the Associated Press (AP)⁵ published this fact-check of Trump’s recent campaign press conference. America’s Government Teacher, Sharon McMahon, wrote this wonderful piece about political misinformation, which includes this nifty media bias chart that we should all bookmark immediately, because it is not enough to crow about “the mainstream media!” without being able to back that up, and/or agree on reliable sources.

5. Trump recently went on a “you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians” rant. I tried so hard to hear this quote another way. But after Fox News’s Laura Ingraham lobbed him a softball to clarify his original statement, he doubled-down on the quote.

6. Donald Trump is hateful. His rhetoric is fear-based and broadly dehumanizing. The evidence points to a lack of moral character. Across his lifetime and political career, Trump has led with nastiness, a quality which seems contagious. Lately, he has purposely botched Kamala Harris’s name, demeaned her intelligence, made racist accusations, and called her racial identity into question (as he and others did with former President Obama.) Last week, his VP running mate, JD Vance, preposterously insulted Tim Walz’s 24 years of military service. They’re mean. In addition to numerous allegations of harassment of women, including being found liable of sexual abuse and defamation of the survivor, Trump has a long record of speaking abhorrently about women. Notably, he is everything my parents (and my faith) taught me not to be.

Which brings me back to Harris/Walz.

Do I think they are perfect? Of course not. Are there things I would change? Probably! But I believe they are uniquely capable of restoring basic decency to our country as they lead by example. I appreciated when Kamala shut down chants of “lock him up!” at one of her rallies this week. I also appreciated this fantastic interview with Ezra Klein, in which Tim Walz refuses to dehumanize or denigrate Trump voters and encourages us to do the same. Such leadership feels downright nostalgic. It’s almost difficult to remember that power is allowed to be kind. When I imagine humility making a presidential comeback, I feel faint with relief. Do we believe someone can lead with authority and sensitivity? We do if we believe in Jesus.

Politics is communal. It’s also personal.

• I live in a predominantly-Latino neighborhood, a fact that is central to my political reformation. I am terrified for the immigrant community, given DJTs promises of mass deportations, travel bans, and the end of DACA protections.

• I have beloved people in my life who are part of the LGBTQ+ community. I am terrified for them, given Project 2025s plan to restrict their basic rights.

• Most of my immediate family is non-white. I am gravely concerned for them, given Trump’s behavior toward BIPOC people and his allies’ interest in focusing on “anti-white racism”, while simultaneously scrapping DEI measures.

• I have a son with a life-threatening, preexisting condition. I am worried for him, given DJTs promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which ensures affordable insurance with preexisting conditions.

On the flip-side we have this:

“I’m surrounded by states who are spending their time figuring out how to ban Charlotte’s Web in their schools while we’re banishing hunger from ours with free breakfast and lunch.” - Tim Walz, as Governor of Minnesota

and

“The American Dream belongs to all of us.” - Vice President Kamala Harris

The Harris/Walz campaign has positioned itself as a movement for joy, progress, hope, inclusion, and…wait for it…fun. Both are politically tested with an eye toward what’s ahead. As they say, “We are not going back.”

All of this matters to me, but here’s what matters most:

As a Christian, I am pledged to take the narrow way and to care more for others than I do for myself. This means refusing Christian nationalism, full-stop. This means mitigating harm for the people who have the fewest resources and are susceptible to the most risk. This means not selling my souls and contradicting my values in the pursuit of power or wealth. This means denouncing anything that runs counter to the Kingdom of God, even if it’s unpopular or causes the people around me to lose their minds. This means believing and embodying, Jeremiah 29, which says if some of us are not safe, none of us are safe.

“And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray for the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” Jeremiah 29:7

I will not pretend that there’s a political party which seamlessly represents the cause of Christ. To make that comparison is dangerous territory.

But I will go down swinging for the belief that our politics⁶ should follow in the wake of our values, not the other way around.

My parents told me and my siblings often to be cautious about the company we kept. They warned us of the danger of those whose values were misaligned with ours, reminding us it was more likely that a “bad influence” would drag us down, than we would pull them up.

They taught us to watch out for those who treat others poorly, are chronically dishonest, or serve themselves before others.

One of my dad’s most frequent refrains was, “To whom much is given, much is required,” (Luke 12:48).

No matter how you slice it, the President and Vice President of the United States of America are given an inordinate amount of power. The bar for them should be set at the soaring heights of integrity, imagination, honesty, humility, warmth, and yes, a sense of humor that inspires joy rather than mockery.

I believe that is not asking too much.

“You don’t need to hear a sermon from [your elected leaders], but you should expect us to try and live one.” Future VP Tim Walz

Finally, Counterweights!

Counterweights are intentional moments of peace/joy/rest that allow us to root our lives in the pursuit of goodness and justice. Politics stretches many of us. We might wish it would just go away. In reality, whether or not we have the privilege of ignoring it, most aspects of our daily lives are wrapped in the trappings of policy. We need to stay focused and engaged. Counterweights keep us standing upright along the way! Here are a few of mine.

Peach Dumplings with Bourbon Hard Sauce

Baking a batch of these with local-ish Red Haven peaches is one of my guaranteed mid-August rhythms. It takes some work, but once a year, it’s totally worth it. (It’s from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook, but I found a link here.) I grabbed the peaches on my way to pick Silas up from tennis earlier today. Game on!

Dusky Walks

I took an impromptu walk late last evening, not even bothering to put on my walking shoes. It was just a trip around the block, but I was gone twice as long because the sunset was that good. On the way back, I passed a birthday party at Juana and Julio’s house, streamers along the garage ceiling, celebration songs leaking out into the warm night air.

Return of the Students

Ruby and Si return to school next week, with Cal heading back to Purdue a few days later. We’re mostly ready! Fun fact: our next door neighbor, Andrea, is also heading to Purdue. Her and Cal aren’t especially close these days, but they spent most days of younger summers running sweaty around the yard with all their siblings, so this feels like a full circle. What mom wouldn’t love that?

1. The interview with Heritage president Kevin Roberts continues, “Roberts told me that he views Heritage’s role today as ‘institutionalizing Trumpism.’ This includes leading Project 2025, a transition blueprint that outlines a plan to consolidate power in the executive branch, dismantle federal agencies and recruit and vet government employees to free the next Republican president from a system that Roberts views as stacked against conservative power.” (emphasis mine)

2. I wrote about this *wild* interview in my first book, Falling Free: Rescued from the Life I Always Wanted

3. If you prefer audio, this was a helpful podcast, published back in the spring, about the probable course of another Trump presidency in the words of his people.

4. Read Trump’s official policy platform, titled Agenda 47.

5. Good news! The AP scores well on the media bias chart I linked.

6. Remember, life is political whether we want it to be or not!