Jaime Harrison

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I just made another big contribution to Jaime Harrison, who's running in South Carolina to retire Lindsey Graham from the Senate. That’s in addition to my monthly contributions, which will continue well into November. (Campaigns often run deficits in the final rush to the election, which they have to make up after all the votes are counted.)

Why does Harrison so excite my imagination and my hope? It’s not just his stark contrast with Graham’s craven kow-towing to a man he hates. It’s not just the chance to retire a twisted governing philosophy that exalts the bosses and the rich and has laid this nation low. Nor is it just the chance to dump a coward who betrayed his old friend and a national hero—John McCain. It’s not only the chance to retake the Senate and get our country back on a progressive, people-oriented path.

No, it’s Harrison himself and what he represents. If you vote in South Carolina, or if you are considering a contribution to Harrison from elsewhere, just take a look at him in action.

Listed below are excerpts of his performance in his first debate against Graham. You can set the C-SPAN video link (allow about 30 seconds for it to start) to these excerpts by click-moving the little white circle on the timeline and releasing it at the right time. Or you can move the timer by using the left or right arrows to go backward or forward in time more precisely. Here’s what you need to watch:

Harrison’s own history [timer at 1:00]
Handling the Covid-19 pandemic [timer at 5:00]
Leadership in fighting the virus [timer at 7:45]
Abortion and women’s health [timer at 13:05]
Graham’s flip-flop on election-year
Supreme Court appointments [timer at 17:22]
How to fight the pandemic and relieve our economy [timer at 20:54]
Social Security and how workers pay for it [timer at 25:30]
Hurricane Katrina and Harrison’s relief work [timer at 27:55]
Supporting and not defunding the police [timer at 32:00]
Improving citizen interactions with police [timer at 34:13]
Using home-grown higher education to revitalize
rural communities [timer at 36:20]
Keeping one’s word, on term limits
among other things [timer at 40:18]

I watched Harrison in this debate and came away with two strong impressions. First, he’s infinitely smarter, better, more honest, more empathetic and more practical than Graham. Second, any state in this country could benefit from a leader like him.

One other thing. If Harrision wins, South Carolina would have two Black Senators, for the first time for any state in US history. One (Harrison) would be a Democrat, the other (Tim Scott) a Republican.

South Carolina, you may recall, started our Civil War with its attack on Fort Sumter on April 9, 1861. As we now see clearly through all the propaganda and spin, the primary purpose of that war was to end white supremacy and an agricultural aristocracy based on slavery.

Wouldn’t it be nice, after 159 years of war, division and strife, to close the book on our Civil War? Harrison’s election would take a decisive step in that direction. That’s why I want to see him in our Senate almost as much as I want to see Joe Biden our President. Harrison is a good man, an honest man, and a smart, practical leader; his elevation to the Senate would tell us that the country we all believe in is back, stronger and better than ever before.

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