As a lifelong Democrat who’s been picking between the “lesser of two evils” since before I was old enough to vote, this election is the first time I’ve come across a candidate who speaks to the complex issues we face as a nation with clarity, honesty, and integrity and who is also willing to build a bridge across the toxic, festering wound that is our current two-party “system.”

I see Kennedy offering a path across that chasm of distrust and he has earned my respect and my vote for it. An entity that is “operating” as an autoimmune disease, a being or nation that is increasingly at war with itself, cannot truly function. I believe this deep polarity is the first thing we need to heal if we want the slightest chance at climbing out of the mess we’re in as a people. 

Although I’d love almost nothing more (in the political sphere) than to see a woman of the global majority lead this nation, I cannot offer my vote to someone who has had the opportunity and responsibility of serving as vice president of this country for the past four years without positioning herself to stand between my tax dollars, the bombs, and the families.

Despite the hype and frothy emotional appeal pouring out of the DNC there’s very little talk of the largest issues we face. What good is dumping money into “healthcare for all” if we don’t actually mend the systems of “care” that are perpetuating disease? How is an administration that so openly suppressed freedom of choice, bodily sovereignty, and informed consent over the past four years going to be a successful advocate for pro-choice issues now?

Kamala still represents the same administration we’ve endured for the past four years. Out of this time we are deeply entrenched in war, funding genocide, and we’re the closest we’ve been to civil war as a nation in a very long time. As my 10 year old observed, “Anyone who is bombing people is seriously messed up,” and as my husband often says, “if nothing changes, nothing changes.” I will not stoop to the insanity of doing the same thing again and again while expecting different results. This world is desperately counting on us to manifest different results. 

Despite his Independent candidacy, Kennedy stands for all the values the Democratic Party used to. His commitment to change foreign policy and end our addiction to war is clear. He comprehends the link between war abroad and the “war at home,” and he’s capable of tracking and addressing the relationships between the violence in our streets, schools, and prisons, and the dis-ease in our homes, minds, bodies, and lands.

Kennedy has dedicated his life to protecting the environment by fighting corporate interests that threaten the health of our water, air, soil, food and jobs. I trust his vow to do the same for our government. So many of the systems that so many of us work so hard to access are now either sorely degraded or nearly broken, and most are completely enmeshed in corporate ties, funding, and sway in order to stay afloat.

I believe Kennedy will do everything in his power to help flush our public systems (corrections, education, healthcare, military, and government) of private interest, profit, and control.  

There are several other reasons why Kennedy has earned my vote, including his pro-choice stance, his vow to heal chronic disease in our children, to reverse inflation, support our farms and soils, heal addiction and poverty, repair damage and injustice toward indigenous peoples and communities of the global majority, etc. But I think the most promising characteristic I see in this man is his willingness and capacity to sit across the table from someone with an opposing view, to engage with curiosity and respect, and to hold a rational, logical discussion about really difficult issues that impact us all. This is an essential skill of leadership that I have not witnessed on campaign stages for quite some time.

As for predicting percentages and outcomes, I haven’t a clue what’s going to happen and I honestly wouldn’t trust anyone who claims to. As long as one candidate is being excluded from the debate table and blocked from mainstream media, while the other two candidates are encouraged to speak their values, opinions and policies freely, the democratic electoral process and our rights as voters have been deeply compromised.

I see the Kennedy campaign facing massive hurdles to simply getting on the ballot in all 50 states, despite generating more than enough voter signatures to qualify. It is unjust that this campaign has had to work so much harder than the others just to position itself so that voters can vote for the candidate of their choice. The inequity is criminal. If Kennedy is forced to bail it’ll be a huge loss toward the healing of a deeply troubled and polarized nation. It may also pose a new challenge for the left as it appears many of the formerly-right-voters who’d found a new political home in the independent candidacy will fall back to the right.

As for myself, I’m not inclined to cast another fear-based vote in either direction. I’m tired of the “lessers of the left” getting worse and a lot would need to change for me to veer right. I think there are a lot of us in the center who believe in Kennedy so much, and who have lost so much faith in the voting process and the two party system, that we will be voting for Kennedy no matter what. 

On both sides, s*** is really just not sane.

Despite all this, just the fact that Kennedy has gotten this far shows me there are paths toward the center and humans willing to walk them and be them. This brings me hope for the sanity and goodness of our people and a greater trust in the paradox of these times. 

Lea Falkenhagen is a mother, healer, and Port Townsend resident.