Fearmongering, when used as a political tool, has always been an effective means of swaying voters and winning elections.

Deliberately arousing public fear by way of racial and political overtures was effective when Barry Goldwater and Nixon decided to target white conservative voters in implementing the Southern strategy.

Former President Richard Nixon once said, “People react to fear, not love. They don’t teach that in Sunday school, but it’s true.”

Nixon’s statement shows his true heart.

It also exposes how the specific people he is referring to are driven not by love, but by their hate. In turn, their hate perpetuates the fear of having any form of progressive change.

Fear is a powerful emotion. There is not a person on the face of the Earth who has not, at some point in their lifetime, experienced some type of fear.

Whether we are young or old, fear can have a demoralizing grip on a person’s life. A tightening grip where a person loses confidence and hope, thereby leaving them lost and empty.

We see this when countless members of the Republican establishment lost all political courage and backbone to publicly speak the truth about Donald Trump. Rather than challenge what they know to be wrong, they became enablers. Sen. Mitch McConnell is one who comes to mind. Sen. Lindsey Graham is another.

The country pays a heavy price when those with influence and power are unwilling to put their selfish motives, pride, ego and their fears aside for the best interest of the nation.

But there is another side of fear we must consider, and even embrace. This is the type of fear that will cause independent and progressive voters to fight and win at any costs. It is the type of fear that presents a heightened sense of urgency knowing that the consequences we face cannot be allowed to occur. This type of fear makes us afraid where it drives us as individuals and communities to do what is right and necessary because of the enormous existential threat to democracy and the threats posed to people of color, veterans, young people, the elderly, the poor, immigrants and to the climate.

We should be very afraid of having someone like J.D. Vance as vice president and in line to carry the mantle of the MAGA movement beyond the Trump era. We should be very afraid of the conservative mandate that calls for the elimination of public protection agencies such as the FDA and EPA. We should be very afraid of plans to defund the FBI and Homeland Security.

We should be very afraid of plans to cut Social Security, Medicare and end the Affordable Care Act. We should be very afraid at the prospect of eliminating unions and worker protections. We should be very afraid of the continued end of civil rights and DEI protections in government. We should be very afraid of the threat of the Supreme Court and lower courts being packed with right wing judges who ignore the rule of law.

We should be very afraid that too many people are not paying attention and will regret not doing their part in stopping a second Trump administration.

John Lewis taught us about getting into good trouble, necessary trouble. In the 2024 election and beyond, we must now be driven by a positive fear which beats back the darkness and preserves the positive gains from the past.

In a selfless and patriotic move, President Biden abruptly ended his re-election campaign while endorsing his vice president, Kamala Harris, to replace him as the Democratic Party’s standard-bearer. On a post shared on X, Biden stated, “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats— it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”

Kamala Harris, along with her running mate, will offer the nation a new generation of leadership while at the same time giving continuity to the successes of the Biden/Harris administration. Most importantly, a Harris victory would be a severe blow to Trumpism and all it stands for.

The writer is the author of the book “God Bless Our Divided America.”