Half the battle in winning a presidential election is picking a rousing campaign slogan, one that encapsulates the hopes and dreams of voters.

In 1904, William McKinley promised a continuation of prosperity with, “Four More Years of the Full Dinner Pail.” In 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt adopted the words of a popular song, “Happy Days Are Here Again,” to suggest that he could end the tribulations of the Great Depression. In 1980, Ronald Reagan roused dispirited Americans with, “Let’s Make America Great Again” (a slogan filched by Donald Trump for his 2016 campaign and MAGA movement). In 2008, Barack Obama created a stirring vision of unity and hope with, “Yes, We Can.”

Here’s my suggestion for Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign slogan, “Save Our Democracy: Send Harris to the White House and Trump to the Big House!”

Despite the opinions of many pundits who say that protecting our democratic system is low on voters’ list of concerns, in my view, it, rather than inflation, crime or immigration, should be the central issue of this election.

Thanks to the Federal Reserve, inflation is dropping to a manageable level. Provided the next president doesn’t do anything to reignite inflation — such as enacting more tax cuts, further increasing tariffs, or pressuring the Fed to prematurely lower interest rates — it will likely moderate on its own.

Higher crime rates are more a matter of perception than reality. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. violent and property crime rates fell 71% between 1993 and 2022.

As for immigration, its sheer volume and chaotic nature makes it a chronic problem that transcends administrations. Since President Biden entered office, over 5 million crossings have occurred at the southern border of which some 2.5 million have been allowed entry into the U.S. for processing and adjudication by the INS. Things won’t change, however, until Congress enacts reform legislation which gives the president authority to to deal rationally with immigration.

One issue, however, will not resolve on its own or through legislation, and that’s the health of American democracy.

The central pillar of democracy is respect for the rule of law. That respect must begin at the top.

Rule of law means that everyone, rich or poor, from the most to the least politically powerful, is bound by the same rules and that anyone who transgresses those rules will be similarly charged, tried and punished. It means that the outcome of elections will be accepted and that the transfer of political office will take place peacefully. (My college professor used to analogize this to turning the football over to the other team if your own team failed to advance 10 yards in four downs). It means that the decisions of courts and juries, however distasteful to the unsuccessful litigant, must be respected and followed. It means tolerance for the right of others to voice unwelcome opinions.

Kamala Harris, a career prosecutor, checks all of these boxes. Donald Trump checks none of them.

Trump rose in the business world through fraud and deception — by overvaluing his properties in order to secure big bank loans and then undervaluing them in order to escape taxation (for which his business has been ordered by a New York judge to pay $454 million in civil fines). He rose to political power by falsely vilifying his presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton, as a criminal with the chant “lock her up.”

After losing the 2020 election, he tried to hang onto power through lies, intimidation and unlawful attempts to nullify the will of the voters. He has respected judicial decisions only when they’re in his favor, labeling all adverse outcomes as “rigged,” politically motivated, and the handiwork of corrupt prosecutors, judges and juries. He has promised to use the power of government to punish those who criticize him.

Democracy cannot remain healthy in the face of a takeover by someone who is utterly contemptuous of the rule of law. Indeed, Trump’s candidacy can be seen as his “Hail Mary” attempt to evade the consequences of his own flouting of the law by grasping at the ultimate levers of power.

Trump still faces criminal charges in the District of Columbia federal and Georgia state courts for fraud and unlawful interference in the 2020 election and potentially in Florida federal court (subject to a pending appeal) for mishandling government documents. He has already been convicted in a New York state court for fraud in connection with hush money payoffs and is awaiting sentencing there.

If Trump is elected, he will almost certainly order his attorney general to fire Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, who’s handling the federal cases, and to cease any further prosecution. He will also likely bring considerable pressure to bear on the authorities in Georgia, a Republican-leaning state, to remove prosecutor Fanni Willis and to terminate that prosecution.

As for his New York criminal conviction, if Trump is sentenced to imprisonment, he can use the muscle of his office to avoid extradition. It brings to mind the physical tussle which took place at Parkland Memorial Hospital on Nov. 22, 1963 between the Dallas police and Secret Service (which the Secret Service won) over who would retain possession of the body of assassinated President John F. Kennedy for the purpose of conducting an autopsy.

This country has never elected a convicted criminal as president. The founders probably never even contemplated such an eventuality, since the Constitution doesn’t include criminal conviction as a disqualification from running for the country’s highest office.

Authoritarian regimes routinely excuse or overlook criminality in their leaders. Indeed, criminality is often what enables them to rise to and retain power. Think Vladimir Putin, Nicholas Maduro or Kim Jong Un.

Americans must make a momentous decision is November, and the Harris campaign should not let politeness stand in the way of frankness in describing how high the stakes are. Are we willing to accept a government marked by criminality and authoritarianism, or do we want to continue our journey, however, uneven, down the road of democracy and the rule of law?

In 2024, the real choice is between the White House and the Big House.

Elliott Epstein is a trial lawyer with Shukie & Segovias in Lewiston. His Rearview Mirror column, which has appeared in the Sun Journal for 17 years, analyzes current events in an historical context. He is also the author of “Lucifer’s Child,” a book about the notorious 1984 child murder of Angela Palmer. He may be contacted at [email protected]