Dear, conservative friend. I am afraid.

Dear friend,

I confess I’m afraid. The beginning of this letter reflects my fear, and for that I hope you'll forgive me. I know we can’t get stuck in this fearful place or all forward momentum comes to a screeching halt. But sometimes it’s necessary to voice one’s fear, right? Fear is honest. Clarifying. Fear is a cry of the heart.

Can I share my fears with you, my dear, conservative, right-leaning friend? Can you read through my list even though I know it might be hard? I would welcome a similar letter from you. I can hold your fears, though they may be different than mine. I can and I will.

I’m afraid of post-truth America. I’m afraid of a Donald Trump presidency. I’m afraid of the number of Republicans who have raised the alarm and defected from their beloved party this election – not because they agree with the Democratic party on policy but because they, too, are afraid of a Donald Trump presidency. I’m not only afraid but horrified by his hateful rhetoric, which promises to punish political opponents and “radical left lunatics.” Friend, by Donald Trump’s definition, I AM A RADICAL LEFT LUNATIC. I’m afraid of his economic policy and his lies and his threat to withhold disaster relief from blue states and money from schools who fail his ideological test. I’m afraid of political violence whether he wins or loses. I’m afraid of Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. And Russia. I’m afraid our fragile democracy is on its last legs, and that my daughter and her wife, who now live in London but who want very much to move here next summer, won’t move home at all if Donald Trump wins. I won’t blame them. It breaks my heart to tell you, friend, that I might not want them to move home to Donald Trump’s America. Why? Because I’m afraid this country won’t be safe and welcoming for them and the children they desperately want to have. And I don’t have trans kids, but if I did? I wouldn’t be sleeping at night.

I know that you are afraid of a Harris presidency. Because of the economy. Crime. Immigration. The life of unborn children.

Except for that last one, what I am most afraid of is that the information you’re working with is faulty, and that you will vote to elect a man based on false premises. May I explain? Bear with me for a minute as I report the following:

The US economy is undeniably strong. This is true even though many of us are still struggling financially.

Even inflation has dropped to 2.4%, back to where it was just before the coronavirus pandemic. Three days ago, the IMF declared that the US economy again leads the world for the second year in a row. Recently, the S&P 500 closed above 5,800 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped (400 points) to a record high. Nonetheless, in a New York Times/Siena Poll of likely voters released on October 8, 75% of respondents said the economy was fair or poor, according to Heather Cox Richardson. (For more, read Heather Cox Richardson’s letter from October 11. Read all her letters, for that matter, which are far superior to mine. Stone cold information. Well cited. Heather Cox Richardson tells it all to you, and I dare any of us to compete with her for relentless, factual reporting. Her daily Letters to an American should be required daily reading. Now I’m fretting because I should have recommended them much sooner than now… Anyway, friend, read them. Read them as if our democracy depends on it.)

In any case, this is why Donald Trump could win. Because (thanks largely to the man himself) we don’t have an accurate picture of what’s actually happening on the ground.

There are two narratives in this country. One is based on fact, one is based on “alternative facts.” And if we get it wrong…

What if we’ve gotten it wrong? Not only about the economy, but about crime. Immigration. Stolen elections. (Have you watched Stopping the Steal yet?) It would be so easy and understandable to get it wrong. The misinformation comes from sources we are supposed to trust and it comes from all directions...

There is a story on the right about the Department of Justice suing Alabama and other states for removing non-citizens from its voter rolls. But this is not at all accurate. I have read the DOJ lawsuit, which was brought to protect legal voters, not to sue states for removing illegal ones, which the DOJ would simply never do. And yet, the spin on the right is impressively confusing. Governor Youngkin of Virginia has been especially skilled at drumming up fear of illegality, cloaking his ploy in feigned concern about non-citizen voting. Which literally no one can find evidence of anywhere. A tiny handful here and there. But it has always been thus. Widespread illegal voting simply isn’t a thing.

As you know, my right-leaning friend and I are digging into information about a “migrant crime” wave.  She has real concerns which I take very, very seriously. Have illegal immigrants committed crimes? Yes. But I can find no evidence of a crime wave. Nothing but evidence that now, as in years past, immigrant communities are far less likely than their American counterparts to commit crime.

But I want to tell you this: if there is anything to be concerned about, we will find it. We are reading. Analyzing. Seeking out experts to help us understand the data. And most importantly of all, I trust my friend to dig in with me and to hold my feet to the fire. If I’m not seeing something, she will catch it. And vice versa.

In the meantime, I am afraid. But I will not stop writing and hoping and loving and listening and doing what I can to keep the lines of communication open.

We’re in this together.

Love,

Sara

PS. I voted today. in my Ida B. Wells shirt, no less.