<p>On Election Day 2020, I will probably do something I rarely do. I will cast my ballot for Republicans from top to bottom. It is true. I do not always vote for the Republican candidate. I have had Democrat candidates as clients – and I was the campaign spokesperson for the re-election campaign of Chicago’s Democrat Mayor Eugene Sawyer.</p>
<p>That is not to suggest that I compromised my conservative principles for cash-on-the-barrelhead. Au contraire.</p>
<p>In each case, there was a specific reason that I preferred the Democrat candidate. For example, my effort on behalf of the incumbent Mayor of Chicago was to keep Richard M. Daley from re-establishing the old political machine. It did not work, unfortunately, and Daley went on to be everything I feared he would be.</p>
<p>But as I look at the political horizon from my home in Florida, I see no office that would be better filled with a Democrat. Part of that is because the modern Democratic Party has become too monolithic. There is no diversity within the party that claims diversity as its own.</p>
<p>Of course, the most important elections in 2020 will be the presidency, the U.S. Senate and the House. In those races, I think a case can be made to NOT elect Democrats – and here are 10 of the most important reasons.</p>
<ol>
<li>I put this at the top of the list because it is, in my judgment, the most politically important issue. It should be clear to every American that <strong>Democrats favor open borders</strong> – ergo they oppose sensible immigration reform. Electing Democrats means more sanctuary cities, more millions of people crossing our border illegally, continuation of chain migration, birthright citizenship, continued abuse of the asylum process and the voting of more and more benefits to illegal aliens. Democrats deny there is a crisis at our southern border because they are encouraging it by lack of action.</li>
<li>The radical left that has taken over the Democratic Party can call it <strong>“Democratic Socialism”</strong> or whatever they like, but it is socialism – and it is what I call “The Bad New Deal.” Any student of history can easily see the destructive nature of socialism. Our constitutional federal system is based on maximum political and economic freedom at the grassroots – not a big central government. Socialism only benefits the elite establishment that runs the system away from the influence of the people.</li>
<li><strong>POLITICAL CORRECTNESS.</strong> More and more, political correctness is taking the form of government policy. It is at the core of the tribalization that is currently undermining our society. Political correctness not only creates permanent conflicting interest groups, it requires that we infringe on such basic constitutional freedoms as speech, assembly and religion.</li>
<li><strong>THE COURTS.</strong> The most important thing for the health of the Republic is for the federal courts – and especially the Supreme Court – to rely on the Constitution when rendering decisions. That is the ONLY way the inalienable rights of we the people can be protected from arbitrary and capricious governance. Democrats believe that the federal courts should bend to the winds of political realities at any given time. They would have the courts create law and re-write the Constitution to enable and empower an increasingly more powerful federal government – something from which the Constitution protects us. Service on the highest courts should not be determined by political viewpoints on any issue, but on fealty to the Constitution. Democrats want the courts to bend to their political advantage. We saw that when Democrats on the court defended slavery, produced the Dred Scott Decision and how President Franklin Roosevelt tried to pack the Supreme Court when it would not bend to his will. Already, Democrats are calling for packing the court, ending lifetime appointments and creating political litmus tests for nominees should a Democrat win the White House.</li>
<li><strong>THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE.</strong> Democrats are in a major push to eliminate the Electoral College. The message is simple – too simple. They say the winner of the popular vote should become the President-elect. It is true that in the case of a close election, sometimes the person with fewer popular votes is elected by the College in accordance with rules set down by the nation’s Founders. They were not stupid. The Electoral College has two very positive results. First, it prevents a small number of BIG states from creating a lock on the presidency – leaving out the majority of smaller states. More importantly, the Electoral College settles controversial elections prior to Inauguration Day &#8212; guaranteeing that there will be a legitimate President in the Oval Office on January 20<sup>th</sup>. Without that mechanism, close elections could be fought in the courts for months and even years – leaving the nation without a legitimate President. The Electoral College was not a mistake, but a bit of genius.</li>
<li><strong>FREEDOM OF SPEECH</strong>. One of the most essential rights of a free people is the right to say whatever is on your mind … period. Democrats have taken up the cause of despots by attempting to restrict and censor free speech. They do it in the name of political correctness. They declare that criticism of others constitutes “hate speech.” The Founders never made that distinction when they crafted the First Amendment. To push their political agenda, Democrats have created classes of victims, who must be protected from the opinions of others. Regulating speech is a dangerous and arbitrary function. While one must be careful what they say about minority Americans, gays and women, there is no social condemnation in slandering old people, white men, conservatives and those with religious convictions. Once people are ostracized for their political or religious beliefs, personal freedom is dead.</li>
<li><strong>WORK VERSUS WELFARE</strong>. We are indeed a rich enough and compassionate enough nation to care for those in genuine need with temporary or permanent conditions. Democrats – with their left-wing philosophy – tend to displace productivity with welfare. This means that those producing wealth and economic growth are gradually diminished as a percent of the population. It goes along the lines of what Benjamin Franklin warned. “<em>When the people</em> find that <em>they can vote themselves</em> money that will herald the end of the <em>republic</em>.” Democrats base their power on encouraging that thinking. The vast majority of people on welfare vote Democrat. That is why Democrats keep them impoverished. If you do not believe that, just look at the ghettoes in the Democrat-run cities. It is not a political or philosophic issue. It is an economic issue. Continue down that road and the American economy collapses – and it will be our children and grandchildren to the fifth generation who will suffer.</li>
<li><strong>AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM</strong>. Call it patriotism if you like. A love of country is the bond that keeps the culture together. It means that despite any internal frictions there is an overarching sense of unity, which is reflected in a respect for the flag … the National Anthem … and the men and women in our armed forces. The far-left element of the Democratic Party – which has been gaining increasing influence – expresses a disdain for American values and traditions, manifesting in a disrespect for the flag and Anthem – and for those who do respect them. Democrats too often see America as a negative force in the world. They are quick to criticize and slow to admire. For many Democrats, American Exceptionalism is false patriotism – not the expression of national greatness and nobility that the title reflects.</li>
<li><strong>CORPORATE AMERICA.</strong> Democrats view the business community as a cadre of greedy and evil individuals, who are stealing our wealth, polluting our environment and enslaving workers. In fact, free enterprise has produced the greatest standard of living for the most people – greater than any society in history. Not only does corporate America provide decent jobs, it provides innovation and discovery. It is the product of free enterprise that has sent men – Americans – to the moon, developed all those amazing social platforms, put a world of information available through telephones that we carry around with us. Corporate America has conquered and cured many of the most dreadful diseases. We Americans – and much of the world – live longer and healthier lives because of the advances made by corporate America.</li>
<li><strong>SAVING OUR CITIES</strong>. The Democrat-run cities have been the last bastion of institutional racism in America. It is in our great metropolises that too many in the black and minority communities remain segregated, uneducated, unemployed, endangered and generally impoverished. Democrats in city halls and in Congress have had decades to resolve the problem, but they have not – because the problem is politically beneficial to the Democratic Party.</li>
</ol>
<p>If this list appears to be short of the specific issues you see debated on the news shows, that is intentional. Constructing a wall on the southern border, sending more troops to the Middle East, sanctioning Iran, arming the Ukrainians, and placing tariffs on China are important issues worthy of political debate, but it is the nature of governance – the underlying philosophies – that guide the American ship-of-state. Issues do not create who and what we are. They merely reflect it.</p>
<p>We can debate the need and value of another federal regulation or an increase in taxes. Those are issues. They reflect a shift away from constitutional federalism and toward an increasingly powerful and authoritarian central government beyond the influence of the people.</p>
<p>I believe that the Democratic Party – as we see it today – is a threat to the Founders’ belief that governance rises from the populace – not imposed upon it. That is why I will vote against further empowering the Party of power.</p>
<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>