photo by: Contributed

Froma Harrop

Presidential elections of yore were not like this one. Would the media kindly get that into their collective skull? Many journalists seem to think that the reluctance of Kamala Harris to sit down for searing in-depth interviews on “the issues” is a major issue.

The one she did with CNN rested on the old gotcha questions. Harris said that she’s now for fracking and that the border is orderly thanks to the president’s executive order. Furthermore, she would sign the strict border bill that Donald Trump had killed to keep the issue alive. She’s been saying this for months.

The only truly important issue in the presidential election of 2024 is existential. Can America survive as a democracy; that is, can it be saved from a mentally declining Donald Trump intent on falsifying vote totals, having already tried to do it through violence? He’s already threatening to contest the election that hasn’t happened. And the only way to put an end to that extortion is to beat Trump soundly in November.

Sure, we good-government types feast on detailed policy papers. But what we can gather about the vice president, much of it based on the Biden administration in which she serves, is that Harris is moderate on most things. Should she be elected, there will be reason to harp, make no mistake. (I look forward to that day.) Most important: We know that if she loses, she will concede.

In the meantime, our political traditions are facing code red.

What should bother us more than the price of hamburger is the prospect of ending 400 centuries of democracy dating back to the New England colonies. But if the economy is deemed all that matters, the indicators confirm far stronger economic growth under Biden.

Trump tells the MAGA masses they’re not seeing what they’re seeing — that dictators get the job done. On the contrary, democracies offer the best economies: Businesses need stable political institutions and the rule of law to flourish. And when the elected government pursues policies antithetical to economic prosperity, the voters can replace the leaders.

That’s the argument advanced by “VCs for Kamala.” These venture capitalists hold that strong, trustworthy institutions are a feature, not a bug, of American capitalism.

Growing numbers of smart conservatives now see MAGA as a threat, not only to democracy but to the survival of the Republican Party. A Republican hasn’t won the popular vote in a presidential election since 2004. And the bizarre characters Trump foists on the party as down-ballot candidates — Kari Lake in Arizona, Mark Robinson in North Carolina — seem destined for easy defeat.

Leading conservatives are not only urging followers to withhold their vote for Trump but to vote for Harris. As former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger memorably told Democrats at their convention, “I am proud to be in the trenches with you as part of this sometimes awkward alliance that we have to defend truth, defend democracy and decency.”

He hasn’t given up the Republican label and told listeners that “Whatever policies we disagree on pale in comparison with those fundamental matters of principle, of decency and of fidelity to this nation.”

A group called “Republicans Against Trump” is spending over $11 million on television ads and billboards reading, “I’m a former Trump voter. I’m voting for Harris.”

What Harris can do for the country is take Trump off our backs, and it appears that she could do it. So what if she passes on interviews that distract from the one big thing, which is securing the democracy.

How one feels about gas prices might matter in normal elections. This election is not normal.

— Froma Harrop is a syndicated columnist with Creators.