On Sunday, President Joe Biden did an extraordinary thing. It was an act of patriotism and leadership that shifted the ground beneath our feet: “I believe today what I always have: that there is nothing America can’t do,” he wrote, announcing his decision to end his run for reelection. We’d heard this line from him before—it is his refrain, his exhortation to our best selves—but in this moment, with an election bearing down that could be the most consequential in our history, coming from a man who anguished over his decision to step aside, it took on urgency and weight.
It was only minutes before President Biden wrote again, on X: “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”
That was another act of leadership, a steadying message to a reeling nation. Vice President Harris had been his partner for four years, and she should be the person to unite and lead the country through the next four.
But wait—should she? What was the path from here? Shouldn’t voters decide? There are so many worthy Democrats who might declare their intentions to run. And then, in minutes, another statement, this time from Vice President Harris. “I am honored to have the President’s endorsement,” she wrote, “and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.”
Earn and win: It’s rare in our current state of politics to hear the music of sound judgment. Harris has it in great supply, plus formidable intelligence, not to mention a tireless energy and drive. “We have 107 days until Election Day,” she wrote. “Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.”
And now we have 105. What Harris has done since Sunday, the speed with which she’s consolidated support, secured the backing of delegates, the hours she’s spent on the phone, and the campaigning she’s already done prior to this moment from state to state, talking about all the issues that matter this election—from reproductive rights to climate change to the economy—is more than enough for us at Vogue. We wholeheartedly endorse Kamala Harris for president.
We do so in a wave of excitement for America’s future. Biden and Harris have accomplished more than almost anyone said their administration could: unemployment at record lows, more people with health insurance than ever, infrastructure work from coast to coast, and they’ve rebuilt America’s standing in the world. A President-elect Harris would keep our nation on this path—with inflation under control, jobs in steady supply—even as she reminds America’s global allies of our leadership at a time when the world needs it.
She would also send a powerful message about women—that they should have the freedom to make their own choices. No one has been more powerful on the subject of reproductive rights than Harris as she’s campaigned around the country, and over the next four years a profound battle is shaping up on this issue. Harris would be a critical bulwark to a Supreme Court and those in Congress who want to tell women what they can and can’t do.
And of course there is who she is. The first presidential candidate of South Asian descent, a Black American, a woman. Harris would represent so many firsts as president—but that is not the reason to vote for her. It’s her vision for the future, her patriotism and optimism, her strength of mind and commitment to the law, forged as a prosecutor, a district attorney, an attorney general, and a senator. Imagine America led by a president who is looking forward, not backward, who isn’t trailed by the shadow of January 6 and so much else. This choice isn’t a choice—it never was. The other candidate is unfit to be president, selling division, anger, fear, and a false dream of the past, promising little other than retribution for his opponents. In President Harris we would have something new and something we desperately need: progress, hope, a force for unity, a page turned, a country made new again—our better future brought tantalizingly closer.
