Another time for choosing…
Well, here we are. It’s Election Day eve. The candidates and influence groups have spent billions of dollars on advertising. The airwaves have been flooded with partisan screeds for months. I wonder if any of it moved the needle in any meaningful way for either party. As we come down to the wire, the polling remains unsurprisingly “too close to call.”
I’ve been wracking my brain to come up with some argument I could present – some turn of phrase I haven’t already tried – that could possibly resonate with potentially disaffected Republicans – to convince them that even if it’s just this one time, their best self-interest is served by defeating Donald Trump by an overwhelming margin. MAGA has to be ended before traditional, conservative Republicans can find their historical voice in the American political discussion. This election, in my estimation, is the last best chance for the Republican Party to begin rehabilitating itself into a party of principled conservatism rather than a cult of personality. That process can only begin when Republicans themselves decide that Donald Trump is leading them into a cul-de-sac where constitutional restraints and historical norms simply don’t matter.
Something north of 70 million votes have already been cast in this election. I expect most people who this post might reach have either already voted or have made up their minds long ago who they’ll be voting for tomorrow. For the ones that haven’t, all I can ask is that you consider something more important than individual policy positions, what you’ve always done, or what your friends and neighbors are doing. More than those things, this election should first be about fidelity to the rule of law, the paramount supremacy of our Constitution, and whether America should be led by someone who openly admires the world’s current crop of tin pot dictators and petty despots.
Even if you disagree with that premise, I have every confidence that history will show Mr. Trump is wrong on tariffs and the economy, he’s wrong in opposing separation of powers, he’s wrong on dismissing freedom of the press, he’s wrong on supporting Russia, and wrong on rejecting the vital importance of standing strong with our NATO allies. He reflects the worst impulses of our contemporary political discourse – and normalizing it is simply dangerous. If you’re determined to support Mr. Trump, I know there’s nothing I can say that will change your mind. If, however, you’re on the fence, I’m begging you with tears on my eyes to throw your vote to anyone but Donald Trump.
