This November, we, the American voter, must imagine who will be president of the United States on January 6, 2029, a grounding milestone for the term of our vote.  Only a few years past, on January 6, we witnessed Donald Trump foment violence rather than concede to Joe Biden. He has never conceded, a big truth still. Recently, on July 13, we witnessed political violence once again; this time, he and his rallygoers were the victims.  

When we conjure one vision for January 6, 2029, Donald Trump’s record and weakening guardrails foreshadow only more chaos and terror. When we conjure the other vision for January 6, 2029, Joe Biden’s old age and active aging foreshadow only more frailty and functional decline. 

We cannot accept this tragic choice between the spectre of a dementor and the spectre of a dementee.  

We call on President Biden to announce that he will no longer seek and will not accept the nomination of his party for another term as president because the full measure of his energy and experience is needed now to advance the cause of peace in the Middle East, Europe, and at home.

We call on President Biden to release his delegates and endorse Kamala Harris as the presidential nominee and Gretchen Whitmer as the vice-presidential nominee of the Democratic party. The delegates should remain free to nominate anyone else seeking to run against the endorsed ticket at the August convention.

We call on Kamala Harris and Gretchen Whitmer, if nominated, to leverage their many virtues as a ticket; to give us something to be proud of come what may; to inspire younger voters and future leaders; and to win the general election on November 5, including based on their own stories of strength over violence; their embodiment of reproductive autonomy; and their prosecutorial, legislative, and executive accomplishment.

We call on all to remember that when we say democracy is on the line, we're not talking about violence against candidates or even about the candidates at all. We're talking about ourselves. What we mean is that government of the people, by the people, and for the people requires us never to elect a character we know will be more flawed than the character of the country we're casting for with our ballot. 

On January 6, 2029, we must be better than Donald Trump and Joe Biden.