By Zachary Benjamin
In a few days, Americans will vote to elect the 47th president of the United States, thus beginning what is likely to be a protracted, strained resolution of one of the most contentious, divisive, and adversarial political processes in American history. Since at least the time of the contested 2000 presidential election between Vice President Al Gore and eventual winner, then-Texas governor George W. Bush, our electoral processes have grown increasingly toxic.
The 2024 election cycle has oozed with vitriol, as both presidential campaigns and their supporting political action committees—as well as candidates for down-ballot offices ranging from the State Legislature to United States Senate—have bombarded our living rooms and mailboxes with aggressive, fear-driven television and print advertisements designed to terrify, rather than to persuade. Such television ads have run at all hours of the day, during every manner of programming, including that which is designed for families.
Despite having now been eligible to vote for nearly 25 years, this election represents my first experience voting in a “swing state,” and the experience has resulted in a bit of culture shock.
Recently, while watching a college football game with my six-year-old daughter on a Saturday afternoon, a presidential campaign ad aired during a commercial break. It warned of an uncontrolled rise in rape, incest, and violence should the opposing candidate prevail. My daughter turned to me halfway through the commercial and asked, "what is rape?" I was unprepared to answer the question, and since that day, my wife and I have resorted to muting the television during all commercial breaks when watching with our daughter.
To have to navigate the question of "what is rape" from my six-year-old during an afternoon sports broadcast due to the content of a presidential candidate's advertising is disappointing as an American and unacceptable as a parent. Based on the rhetoric that is circulating from the various ongoing political campaigns, neither party is less guilty than the other of lowering standard of political marketing content.
All of us understand that American public discourse is broken, rotted away over the past two decades largely by social media algorithms that force individuals into echo chambers, poison us with confirmation bias, then send us back out into society emboldened to marginalize, vilify, and isolate from those with differing perspectives. The results are no less than a travesty. Marriages, friendships, business partnerships, and other deep, meaningful interpersonal connections have been severed by the growing national wedge of ideological dichotomy. Parents are setting troubling examples for their children, teaching them both explicitly and through their conduct to hate thy neighbor if that neighbor displays a yard sign that indicates a differing political perspective.
During the Federation’s CEO search process, Harrisburg was described to me as “the most purple city in the most purple state” in the country. This was attractive to me as an American, as someone guided by Jewish values, and as a parent raising his child to respect diverse perspectives and to engage in discourse that is constructive rather than destructive. Thus far, the good news is that I have found the Jewish and broader communities here to largely embody the integrity and mutual respect that all of us should strive to exercise, especially during challenging political times. Why, then, are some of the candidates vying to represent us appealing to the lowest common denominators of fear, division, resentment, and intolerance? American Jews are of cultures that have thrived on coming to difficult compromise, as well as on coexistence with those whose opinions may differ. We should, then, demand better of our elected leaders than the examples that they are setting through the messages that they disseminate to their current and prospective constituencies. The Jewish value system calls for us to question, to constantly evaluate our perspectives, and to engage in vigorous debate on items of importance to us and our communities. It does not call for us to slander, marginalize, or bully others into aligning with our own opinions.
Despite the prevailing American discursive atmosphere, it is refreshing to be part of a Jewish community that is traveling a higher road than some who seek to represent us in the halls of power. It is an example that we must continue to set for all, especially after the proverbial dust of this election cycle has settled, necessitating that we find a path forward amidst American civil society that is fractured and wounded. We are commanded as Jews to serve as a light unto the nations and, locally, unto our neighbors. It is imperative, then, that we lead by example in how we conduct ourselves and our interactions with others, today and after the outcome of the election has been determined.
Finally, it is also imperative that each of us exercises our right and privilege as Americans to participate in the electoral process by voting. Our leadership and I sincerely hope that you will do so on November 5, and that regardless of the results, each of us exercises grace and tolerance as we navigate that subsequent forward path.