Opinion – Col Owens: Voting is an extraordinary privilege, please do it; I suggest one specific vote

I want to address two things today – voting, and Kamala Harris.

First, voting.

To vote is an exercise of power. We vote in order to confirm our choice about a matter or person that matters, publicly.

Our vote is a part of making a decision that matters. That determines what must happen about something that matters.

Most often, it is about people. People contending for power. Our vote helps determine who – which person – will wield power. Not the one who has the biggest club. But the one who gets the most votes.

To have the freedom to vote means that we are not vulnerable to the person with the biggest club. We do not have to be a contender for being that person. Nor for learning how to cater to that person.  Thankfully – most of us are not well suited for those activities.

To vote is not only a powerful act. It is a sacred act. Mother Teresa said, “I used to pray to God to change things. I now know that prayer changes us. And we change things.” The power to act is ours.

Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, a minister as well as a Senator, says that voting is prayer. Mother Teresa would agree, I think.

A vote is a decision launched into the future, with the hope that it will prevail. We vote, most of us, with the sense that our decision is consistent with our understanding of God’s intentions for the world. We vote with the hope that with our vote, those intentions are more likely to be realized.

Finally – voting should not be taken for granted. A quick perusal of human history, along with a tour of today’s world, suggest that voting for important governmental and societal decisions has not been and is not now the case for the majority of people.

To vote is an extraordinary privilege.

Please vote.

Next: Kamala Harris.

When the issue of whether Joe Biden should withdraw as a candidate for the Presidency was the hot topic, I thought long and hard about what that would mean. And more specifically, who could take his place.

There was much talk for a while about a primary approach, where a group of wanna-be’s would contest for the privilege. The prospect of the sitting Vice-President simply assuming that role was certainly in the mix. But for many, who like me did not know much about her, it was not a winning strategy on its face.

But several variables took precedence. Certainly, first and foremost, was time. There was only a period of four months or so to put a campaign together. This mitigated in favor of the VP, who was already part of a campaign, and who could slip most easily into that first chair.

But more importantly, I believe, people began to look at the VP more seriously. And what they saw – slowly at first and then more quickly – they realized was the real stuff.

Somebody who was smart – always a strong point – who had credentials – who had experience, appropriate and timely experience – as a prosecutor, as an Attorney General protecting consumers’ rights along with public interests, as a Senator dealing with multiple national interests. And finally as Vice-President, to one of the most consequential presidents of the post WW II period.

So her assuming the nominee candidacy began to look not only inevitable but also like a wise choice.

And what a wise choice it has turned out to be. This gifted woman has shown herself to have, in addition to the experiences described above, a temperament that embraces all people, regardless of station, race or ethnicity, or political persuasion.

Her sense of issues contending for priority status is informed by her middle class origins, as well as her sense of how most people live. So those issues tend to focus on family life, economic and social. On where families need assistance in order to get ahead. Costs of raising young children. Child care. Housing. Elder care.

At the same time she has, as a result of her service on the Senate Intelligence Committee and as Vice-President, a broad and encompassing grasp of international affairs. And how to manage them effectively to protect and advance our national interests.

All of which is to say, we are amazingly fortunate to have Kamala Harris as a candidate for President.

So. Vote. And please vote for Kamala Harris.

Amen.

Col Owens is a retired attorney and a retired law professor. He is author of the book, Bending the Arc Toward Justice.