Ben O’Shea: The devil we know isn’t better than Kamala Harris

By this time next week, Americans will have gone to the polls to elect a new president, and the choice they make will reverberate around the world.

The presidential race has been as bizarre as any reality show on TV, so it’s no wonder Aussies have become invested in it, even if more than a few of us have been low-key brainwashed by social media.

Talk to the average punter about the candidates and it’s not unusual to hear an Australian criticise Kamala Harris for being “a bit of an unknown” and for “not really having any policies”.

These talking points have echoed around Facebook for the past few months and have become damning facts against Harris in the minds of many.

Sure, the majority of these people are just going off what an algorithm has served up, and haven’t actually researched if Harris has announced any policies (Spoiler alert: she has).

Regardless, political discourse should be welcomed, and criticism of candidates is part of that.

It becomes problematic when people use these (mostly unfounded) criticisms as a dealbreaker for electing Harris to the White House because somehow it makes her less suitable than Donald Trump.

We don’t know much about Kamala, therefore we don’t want her to win.

But what DO we know about Trump?

Last year, a New York jury found him liable for sexually abusing journalist E. Jean Carroll.

This year, another New York jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records relating to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.

He also faces indictments for election interference relating to his 2020 Presidential Election loss to Joe Biden.

Of course, then there is the absolute shitshow that was his first term in office, and the likelihood that a second term would cripple NATO, empower Putin, diminish the role of science and turn America into a tinpot dictatorship.

Those are things we KNOW about Trump, but somehow the great unknown of Harris is more dangerous?

Australia is especially vulnerable to the worst aspects of a Trump presidency because our economy is so closely linked to China.

Tariffs on imports to the US will hurt the Chinese economy, which will hurt us. Trump’s version of foreign policy (which is best summarised as “foreigners bad”) will exacerbate regional tensions.

And good luck to anyone associated with the AUKUS deal, because who knows what will happen to that under Trump. Unpredictability will be the norm.

A Harris presidency will, at worst, maintain the status quo, and there’s something to be said for stability based on how the world is precariously perched at the moment.

Better the devil you know? Not this time.