Dear Kamala Harris, congrats on being chosen to be the VP
on the 2020 Democratic Party ticket. I made my first small donation
to the Biden-Harris campaign this evening, partly because your initial
email announcement highlighted Donald Trump as a serial predator,
which I don’t think has been noted nearly often enough, either by
Democratic candidates or mainstream media. Because I’m afraid
this is likely to be another 50/50 election, in part because of dirty Trump
campaign tricks—including weakening the post office, removing names
from voter rolls, getting petitions signed in swing states for Kanye West,
provoking violence by his supporters–, I wanted to offer two suggestions
for the campaign, which I have previously sent to the Biden campaign’s
main email address. First, keep emphasizing that Donald Trump has been
accused of sexual misconduct and assault, from self-admitted groping to rape,
by dozens of women. E. Jean Carroll’s civil suit against Trump for rape
was just allowed by a NY court to move forward. When Donald Trump
insults you or calls Biden, Sleepy Joe, your campaign should begin
calling Trump, Rapist Donald, or Predator Donald. Repeatedly mention
E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit and pressure Trump to turn over a DNA sample
to see if it will match the sample she has kept all these years. There’s a
compelling book—have you read it?—All the President’s Women:
Donald Trump and the Making of a Predator. I suggest holding this book up
continually at political events, whether in person or on Zoom, in hopes
that highlighting Trump’s history as a sexual predator might draw away
even a few percent of the evangelical Christian vote needed to beat Trump
in the electoral college. Secondly, highlight Trump’s terrible job handling
the coronavirus pandemic by saying that many in the U.S. are now calling
the pandemic “the Trump virus.” This is true; look online. This would likely
drive Trump to say something nuts in response, and also accurately portray
how Trump’s anti-science incompetence has made our country the one
most affected by the virus in terms of deaths and chronic long-haul illnesses
per population–including my own father’s coronavirus death in a NJ nursing home
in late March. I hope these suggestions will reach you and that you will consider
them. With thanks for (hopefully) listening, Eliot Katz, poet. P.S. When talking
about Trump’s anti-science views, please remember to mention his refusal to enact
policies to slow climate change, which threatens all life on the planet, and is
already responsible for more extreme weather events and maybe more new viruses.
–Eliot Katz, August 2020