Philadelphia, PA - Like many Philadelphians, I come from a Pennsylvania family that has always been deeply divided across political party lines. In some elections—especially in recent years—the only point on which we could all agree was the importance of voting. In-person or by mail, it makes no difference, provided that you cast a ballot.
For Many Pennsylvanians, the Presidential Choice 2024 Is No Choice
In 1960, my Grandfather and Great-Grandfather were in a very animated conversation about the JFK vs. Nixon Presidential Election. Grandpop laid out all the points about why Nixon was a superior choice, and his father-in-law replied, “Joe, you are right, but I want to see a Catholic in the White House.”
On Thursday evening — in a Manhattan courtroom — former President and University of Pennsylvania Alumnus Donald J. Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. “The real verdict is going to be November 5th by the people,” Trump said while addressing the media shortly after the verdict.
The choice in 2024 is between the first US President ever to be convicted of a felony who has yet to hear his sentence and carries with him the not-so-distant memory of a controversial first term against the second Catholic President ever to win the White House — an aging Joe Biden whos many questions are “spry” enough to handle a second term in office and whose economic and border security issues cloud his re-election bid.
Then we have an alternative choice. RFK, Jr. — the third-party candidate in 2024 and JFK’s nephew — espouses theories such as COVID-19 having been genetically engineered and that the wrong person was convicted of killing his father in 1968.
For many Pennsylvanians, November 5th, 2024, means—well—not much at all. The 2024 US Presidential Election, perhaps with the most at stake in our nation’s history, holds almost no excitement for me, let alone enticement to head to the polls. Here is why it’s important for Pennsylvanians to show up for this election in record numbers and to suppress the urge to skip it.
Although it has only 19 of the 38 Electoral College votes it had a century ago, Pennsylvania is still a swing state and is important to both campaigns. Pennsylvania has voted with the election winner 81.4% of the time (in 48 of 59 total elections). It is currently tied with two other states (Michigan and Wisconsin) for the longest active voting streak in history.
Philadelphia is also a city of political firsts. We hosted the first Republican National Convention in 1856. We were the site of the signing of one of the most significant political documents in American history (if you’ve heard of the Declaration of Independence), and its first Mayor (Humphrey Morrey) was appointed by William Penn as a volunteer position without compensation.
No matter which party wins this election, it will need a turnout of American ethnicities and minorities to take the White House in 2024. That will be especially important in swing states like Pennsylvania.
The 2024 election is significant not only in an America of changing demographics and the future of control for both the Democratic and Republican parties but also for the very future of our democracy itself. After the early evening verdict, President Biden tweeted, “There’s only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box.”
To replace my unenthusiastic attitude with necessity, I’ve already made lunchtime plans on November 5th to head to the polls.
My state, country, and family's core beliefs demand it.
Michael Thomas Leibrandt lives and works in Abington Township, Pennsylvania.
