Republicans for Kamala Harris? A true conservative couldn't vote for her.

Let me tell you a story.

Eight years ago, in September 2016, I was on the editorial board of The Detroit News. During our endorsements that presidential election year, we made a decision that surprised a lot of our readers – and others around the country.

For the first time in the newspaper’s storied history, we chose not to endorse the Republican candidate.

As we wrote then : “The 2016 nominee offered by the Republican Party rubs hard against the editorial board’s values as conservatives and Americans. Donald Trump is unprincipled, unstable and quite possibly dangerous. He can not be president.”

So what did we do instead? As a conservative editorial board, we couldn’t bring ourselves to endorse the Democrat, Hillary Clinton, for her far-left stances and character challenges.

Rather than just write a non-endorsement, we wanted to be for somebody. We chose Libertarian Gary Johnson, the former two-term Republican governor of New Mexico. (Unluckily for us, the night before our endorsement ran, Johnson had a brain freeze on national TV when he couldn’t think of the name of a single foreign leader he admired – an “Aleppo moment,” as Johnson called it , referring to a former flub.) The next day, when local and national media outlets wanted to talk to us about our choice, was interesting to say the least.

I tell this story to say I understand and share the concerns many conservatives have with Trump. And I was thrilled to see a new generation of Republicans run in the 2024 GOP primary, including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis .

What I will never understand, however, is how so-called never-Trump Republicans could bring themselves to enthusiastically support someone like Vice President Kamala Harris.

Harris' bad economics: Trump’s ‘Comrade Kamala’ insult is a bit much, but price controls really are an awful idea

'Republicans for Harris' is a growing movement. I don't get it.

Republicans for Harris formed shortly after it became clear Harris would take over for President Joe Biden in the presidential contest.

And their goal isn’t to simply warn against Trump, but, as their name suggests, it’s to actively work to elect Harris .

It’s an ever-growing list . And some recent prominent names include former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and her dad, former Vice President Dick Cheney, who served with President George W. Bush.

Liz Cheney is asking voters to “take the extra step” to support Harris .

“As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this,” she said at an event last week . “And because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.”

Her distaste for Trump, after what happened with the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, is well-documented .

Yet, how does a self-described principled conservative throw her support behind someone who has a long record of backing some of the most-far left policies out there ?

Since she’s gotten in the race, Harris has changed positions on pretty much everything she’s ever supported in the past, but that seems a change of heart based on political calculations rather than a shift in her “values.”

Harris' policies are ... Trump's? Kamala Harris steals another idea from Trump. Now she wants to build the wall – no joke.

Trump isn’t a true conservative, either, as I’ve pointed out before . His support of tariffs and reluctance to tackle the national debt put him on par with a lot of Democrats.

Yet, Trump is a better bet for conservatives to get some of what they may want, whether lower taxes, fewer regulations and strong judges, as we saw in Trump’s first term.

Even Rep. Cheney voted along with Trump most of the time during his presidency.

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Is democracy really on the line?

Republicans who vow to vote for Harris all seem motivated by one thing: a true fear of what a second Trump term could bring and what it might mean for our democracy.

Is our democracy really that flimsy?

I have more faith in our Constitution and our system of government than to think any one person could overturn it.

Executive overreach: Biden, Harris overstep on student loans, Title IX. Be glad courts are pumping the brakes.

In a recent interview with NPR about his new book , Yuval Levin, director of social, cultural and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute , said something that rang true to me:

“The idea that if we lose this election, we will lose everything is less true in the 21st century – not more – than it has been through most of American history. And so in a funny way, we’ve come to think of the stakes of our elections as impossibly high exactly in the moment when those stakes are lower than usual. I think the Constitution, if we become better acquainted with it, can remind us of that – that no election is about everything, and no election is ultimate and final.”

I don’t think our democracy is on the line this November.

What I am sure about is that Harris would continue in Biden’s footsteps , pushing unconstitutional executive orders and backing costly legislation that is quickly bankrupting our country and driving up prices for Americans. And Harris is unapologetically pro-abortion .

I understand a conservative not wanting to vote for Trump. Actively supporting Harris?

No way.

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X, formerly Twitter: @ Ingrid_Jacques

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Republicans for Kamala Harris? A true conservative couldn't vote for her.