It boggles my mind that Donald Trump, a convicted felon with four criminal indictments, is the Republican nominee for president, and is neck and neck with Kamala Harris. How low our values for leadership have sunk.

The time is ripe to turn the page from the last eight years of Donald Trump, and begin a new chapter in America’s story. We need to raise the bar and stop normalizing his self-centered, dehumanizing merry go round of fraud, disrespect, fear mongering, misinformation, racism, sexism and his inability to communicate coherent speeches that deliver wisdom from his head and heart that uplift and inspire our common good.

I remember when Trump announced his candidacy for president. A relative said, “He’s going to make us all rich.” I replied, “I don’t like his character.” He viewed Trump through the lens of money. Trump won, lowered taxes for the rich, and made us all poor with his unsavory conduct. After dodging two impeachments, he lost the 2020 election, and tarnished the integrity and veracity of our elections by scheming and lying that the election was stolen, and stirred up the Jan. 6 attack of the Capitol.

“All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil,” the ancient Greek philosopher Sophocles is to have said.  Throughout all the chaos and division he caused, Trump never tried to redeem himself. How are we supposed to trust a man who is known as an “Olympian liar” and has no relationship with the truth?  Is supporting his behaviors the modeling we want our children and grandchildren to aspire toward? Are we telling them, “You can lie, cheat, steal, belittle others, break the law, have a criminal record, and still become president”?

“Standing up for justice, for right and wrong is a true test of moral character,” the late Maine Sen. Margaret Chase Smith proclaimed. The Jan. 6 Committee that investigated the attack on the Capitol was a lighthouse of hope. They worked arduously to gather facts to bar Trump from ever holding future office. But, like a jack-in-the-box, he sprang back up, and became the dictator king of the Republican Party. The Republican vice chairman of the committee, Liz Cheney, warned, “Tonight, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible. There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.” Sadly, the Supreme Court has given him broad immunity for his wrongdoings, and he continues to bamboozle his way out of accountability by calling it a political witch hunt or election interference.

Kamala Harris is smart, graceful, courageous, experienced, self-confident, accomplished and quick on her feet. She exudes a spirit of joy, hope, unity, diversity, humanitarianism and has compassion for Americans from all circumstances in life. It’s heartwarming to see her eyes light up when she smiles, laughs, and places her hands over her heart. Her vice presidential running mate, Tim Walz, complements her aspirations to protect our freedoms and strengthen the middle class. I’m touched that former President Jimmy Carter, who will turn 100 this coming October, wants to live long enough to vote for Kamala.

A few of Republican Project 2025’s worrisome plans are to expand Trump’s powers, replace nonpartisan civil servants with MAGA loyalists, have tight control of the Department of Justice and FBI and cut the Department of Education. In his 2024 spring commencement address at Brandeis University, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns cautioned, “The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is the opioid of all opioids. We are at an existential crossroads in our political and civil lives. This is a choice that could not be clearer.”

Despite my aging 74-year-old limbs, I will be an agile cheerleader, jumping up and down, waving pompoms in the air, trumpeting my hope that Kamala Harris will become our next president, and receive the honor of the keys to the Oval Office.