As voters begin to cast ballots here in Boston this weekend in advance of the Nov. 5 election, The Reporter enthusiastically endorses Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to be the next president and vice president of the United States.

This is not a difficult decision. The Republican ticket is led by a disgraced former president who attempted to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power in 2021 and who has consistently sought to undermine the integrity of our republic’s electoral system. Donald J. Trump is a convicted felon, a habitual liar, and a malignancy on the American political system. The fact that his feckless party has re-nominated him after his heinous assaults on the core institutions of this republic is shameful.

Vice President Harris has brought a much-needed boost of energy and confidence into the campaign to halt Trump’s return to power. President Biden did our nation a service by stepping off the ticket last summer. However unfair that move might have been given his performance as commander-in-chief over the last three-plus years, his gallant act has fueled an unprecedented surge in fundraising and a fresh momentum to the Democratic ticket.

The Harris-Walz ticket offers several compelling reasons to support their election next month. First and foremost is national security.

We are gravely concerned by the Republican retreat from an ironclad support of NATO and our allies, particularly in eastern Europe. Trump – emboldened by the far-right isolationists and his own bizarre infatuation with strongmen – threatens to upend American primacy in the post-WWII world order by coddling dictators and facilitating Russian aggression against its neighbors. He promises to be the enabler-in-chief to Putin, whose assault on Ukraine – now in its second, bloody year – could well extend to new fronts under a GOP-led administration.

Our national security is weakened by this retreat from alliances that have kept our homeland safe and secure for several generations. We urgently need leadership that will re-affirm President Biden’s stalwart support for Europe’s sovereignty.

Domestically, Harris and Walz are committed to halt, and eventually unwind, the Trump-era attacks on women’s reproductive rights, which have impacted tens of millions of Americans already. President Harris will sign legislation restoring a woman’s right to make her own decisions about a pregnancy and her physical and mental well-being.

The Trump-Vance team’s renewed targeting of immigrants and asylum-seekers, especially their campaign of misinformation aimed at disrupting and endangering the lives of people living here with legal status, has been a hallmark of the candidates’ fear-mongering campaign. Their pledge to deport people who don’t meet their racial and cultural litmus tests is a disturbing lurch into authoritarian rule. It’s particularly disturbing given Trump’s active role in undermining rational reforms to the southern border issue, which most Americans support.

Kamala Harris is not a perfect candidate, nor is Gov. Walz. The Democratic establishment, writ large, has flaws and rough edges that we hope – and someday soon – will be improved upon by a robust rival party, perhaps a reformed, post-Trump Republican entity, or a more conservative replacement.

At present, though, there is no alternative for those of us who see Trumpism for what it actually is: An insidious threat to our republic’s very existence. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz offer the best alternative to block that outcome and we encourage voters to act urgently by voting for them on Nov. 5 – or sooner.

-Bill Forry