It's about POLICY, NOT PERSONALITY!

Weekly Opinion Editorial

RELEVANCE SEEKERS ARE IRRELEVANT

by Steve Fair

      On Saturday, the New York Times reported former President George W. Bush, former Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice along with Utah U.S. Senator Mitt Romney will not support President Donald Trump’s re-election.  The article implied former Speakers of the House Paul Ryan and John Boehner will not vote for Trump.  They also said that up to four other GOP U.S. Senators plan to not support the president’s re-election.  Four observations:

     First, a vote isn’t about personality- it’s about policy.  When President Bush and the others oppose the president of their own Party, they reveal their lack of commitment to the conservative movement.  Trump’s abrasive personality is polarizing, but as Dr. Gerald Beasley once about an abrasive elected official: “We send them up there to vote.  Little else matters.  Watch how they vote, not what they say.”  That is great advice.  It’s about the cause, not the person.

     Second, a vote is always the lesser of two evils.  Until Jesus Christ is on the ballot, we are always voting for a fallen human being.  In every election, voters make a choice between the lesser of two evils.  They should base their decision on which candidate they believe will govern or implement policies most closely aligned with their convictions, values and political philosophy.   President Trump has appointed more conservative judges, cut taxes and cut government regulation more than any president- Republican or Democrat- in modern history.  Vice President Joe Biden has said he will do the exact opposite- raise taxes and appoint liberal judges.   Trump’s personality and may be course and blunt, but his policies are conservative- Biden’s will be liberal. 

     Third, this fight/conflict is really over economic globalism.  Every Republican mentioned in the Times article believe all the countries of the world should collectively operate as one system.  President Trump has vocally opposed America being dependent on foreign manufacturing (much of which happened during the Bush presidency) and has encouraged manufacturing to return to the U.S.  

     Fourth, the rank and file Republican base remain behind Trump.  Even with the COVID-19 pandemic, the George Floyd incident and the protests, Trump supporters are firmly supporting the president.  That is the good news.  The bad news is Democrat conservatives, many of them union workers, who supported the president in 2016 are not as enthusiastic about Trump, but aren’t in Biden’s corner yet either.  With five months until the election, a lot can change- and will.

     When candidate Trump was running in 2016, he promised, if elected, to ‘drain the swamp.’  That meant he wasn’t going to go along to get along.  He vowed to be unconventional and to govern different than tradition dictated.  That is why he makes career politicians and bureaucrats nervous.  The Washington establishment, including many elected Republicans, have opposed his governing style and policies since his election.  No president in modern history has been criticized, critiqued, and condemned more.   

     The fact is, none of those Republican listed in the article have enough influence to sway the election to Biden.  They lose all creditability with conservative Republicans when they say the prefer Biden over Trump.  Conservative Democrats won’t listen to them either.  They have lost their relevance.