Almost four years ago, I wrote an opinion piece, desperately pleading with the western Massachusetts community to help vote Donald Trump out of office. I offered a (then) 16-year-old’s perspective, leveraging my unique perspective as a young person in the hope that people would more readily listen to me. Lo and behold, Joe Biden won the 2020 election, and we all got to breathe out a collective sigh of relief.

Now it’s 2024, I am 20, and it’s happening all over again.

A lot has changed since the fall of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has lessened its grip on the world, and I am no longer in high school. As this particular election season approaches, though, there’s a lot on my mind. Donald Trump is once again in the race, trying to reclaim the presidency while alleging that if citizens vote for him, they will “never need to vote again.” This time around, Donald Trump’s dictatorial intentions no longer exist purely in the subtext. They are broadcast loud and clear, and it is terrifying.

I’m sure many of you have heard of Project 2025, the alleged “Presidential Transition Project” posed by conservatives for a Trump-led future. With strict anti-trans legislation, reassignment of civil service roles to ensure greater loyalty to the president, and catastrophic removal of existing environmental protections, Project 2025 paves a clear path toward the United States becoming an autocracy.

Under Project 2025, much of the protections that we as Americans take for granted at the moment would come up for debate. Much of it might not survive.

I don’t think I need to tell you twice that what we must do is vote Vice President Kamala Harris into office. We must commit to Harris, and commit to convincing those around us to vote for Harris in November. In 2020, I wrote out a whole list of Trump’s bad policies. In 2024, it is no longer a matter of bad policy but a matter of maintaining American democracy.

Harris, though flawed, will maintain democracy. Trump will plunge us headfirst into a dictatorship.

I know that Harris is imperfect. Just last week, Harris’ adviser, Phil Gordon, said Harris does not support an arms embargo to Israel, even in light of the ongoing violence Israel is committing against Palestinians in Gaza. The ongoing conflict in Gaza is a hot-button issue for many young voters like myself, and I am certainly displeased with Harris’ ongoing support of a nation that is effectively committing genocide against a civilian population. How, then, do we go forward supporting Harris?

Here is the way I see it: While Harris is imperfect, she is not a fascist. She has recently called for a cease-fire in Gaza. Though that is the bare minimum, that is much more than Trump has done. For those like me that have protested in support of a cease-fire and a free Palestine, a vote for Harris is the only way to ensure our right to continue protesting as Trump has promised to “set the movement [for Palestine] back 25-30 years” if elected.

I wish that we once again did not have to choose the lesser of two evils this November. I hope someday to see the better world that I and so many others like myself want to see. A world where Palestine is free, and we can choose a presidential candidate based on who is better, not who will do the least damage. If Trump is elected, that better world only gets harder to achieve. Under Trump, the United States will regress in ways that will negatively affect all of us, and especially those most marginalized.

While there is still time to prevent a fascist future from happening in the United States, I will fight against it. As a citizen and a voter, I feel it is my duty. I invite you all to fight with me.

Madeline Raymond is a former columnist for the Recorder and student at Bryn Mawr. She lives in Goshen.