Mona Simpson

Because Harris and Walz are two real people who will contend with the world we live in

There’s much to fear: Greenland scientists measuring the rate of glacier melt tell us we’re approaching a tipping point, after which nothing we can do will be able to reverse the damage to the planet’s climate. We may have to accept the eventual disappearance of snow. Guns in America threaten our most common pleasures, such as the carefree morning walk of children to their school. We witness an ever-widening income equality.

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are unafraid to name these issues and yet they’re able to summon humor and moments of joy. They’re hardworking, smart, and nimble, and they evoke a spirit of eager promise for the work to be done.

Trump resembles a bad movie made from a cartoon; his outrageous fabulations about immigrants coming to eat our family pets and his evocations of a bygone, ideal, all-white America resemble simplistic fairy tales.

If we remember Franceis Perkins, who crafted the New Deal, and what we now know as the weekend, we are decades—not just eight years—overdue for a female American to get the top job. And with wit, talent, and grace, Kamala Harris has done the grinding daily work of government her entire professional life.

Kamala Harris has had the courage to disagree—even with some in her own party. She’s spoken out about the Palestinians with humanity. In face of the almost daily insistence that the economy is better than ever, she’s aware that most Americans find their food budgets tripled, and she’s not afraid to say so. She’s been clear and forthright about abortion, without minimizing the stakes and gravity. She doesn’t claim to be a superhero. In this election, we see opponents from two different worlds: that of Donald Trump and his followers, who fashion themselves after formulaic superhero stories; and that of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, who are two real people, contending with the world we live in.

I choose reality.

Mona Simpson is the author of seven novels.