<p>In fact, I did not vote for HIM last time. Oh, I cast my ballot for the Republican ticket – and will do so again in November – but as a long-time policy-oriented principled conservative, the ISSUES and POLICIES are what get my vote. That has been the case throughout my life. President Trump is just the guy who happens to best represent my ISSUES and POLICIES.</p>
<p>One of the greatest gifts of a republic is the right to cast a vote to elect our LEADERS (Note … that is plural) and thereby influence public policy. I vote conservative. Now sometimes – maybe most times – I do not have the perfect candidate. I just have to accept the binary reality and pick the better of the two choices – or the lessor of the two evils. That is also why I do not throw away my vote by casting it for some hopeless third-party candidate – or not voting at all.</p>
<p>Just for the record, Donald Trump was not my pick in the Republican primaries. In fact, of the 16 Republican candidates, he was my 17<sup>th</sup> choice. But once he secured the GOP nomination, my decision was easy. I understood that we were not electing him to be some kind of authoritarian boss – the kind Democrats tend to empower in our major cities – but rather the leader of a team with specific ideas.</p>
<p>When we vote every four years, we vote for more than a President. We vote for a presidency. That involves a lot of appointments and policy decisions over the next four years. That is true of virtually every office. Sure, there is a name on the ballot, but behind that name is an agenda of critical issues. For me, the name on the ballot is not the most important factor. It is what that person will support and advance – and what they will oppose.</p>
<p>I cannot recall a time in my life in which the personal traits of the candidate and the policies they support have been so at odds in terms of my view of things. But since the most important thing is policy, I voted for the Trump administration – or, if you prefer, against the increasingly big government authoritarianism of the Democratic Party.</p>
<p>I have often stated that I am no fan of President Trump’s pugnacious personality and bellicose style. In 2016, I was even concerned if Trump would fulfill his various campaign pledges. I would have settled for even half of them. But even as I got more displeased with his personal style, I was pleasantly surprised by his general loyalty to the conservative principles of personal freedom and limited government.</p>
<p>This year, I will again vote for conservative principles and governance. The fact that Donald Trump is the person at the top of the ballot is of less concern – because on his worst day, I believe a Republican administration and Congress is far better for the Republic than the prospect of the radical left agenda that the Democratic Party currently offers.</p>
<p>And truth be known, I do not believe Joe Biden is much better when it comes to his personal character – but just gets better coverage from a fawning news media. This is the guy who lied about his law school achievements; lied about attending a black college; lied about a union endorsement; has made plagiarism a life-long habit; has demonstrated hot-headed reactions to voters and reporters who ask questions he does not like; has engineered billion dollar sweetheart deals for his son AND himself (and lied about what he knew); and has managed – thanks to the biased press – to bury a number of accusations of sexual impropriety from several women.</p>
<p>Biden campaigns on his deep religious faith when, in fact, he is essentially estranged from the Catholic Church to which he claims fealty. Catholic theologians make it clear that a person cannot be a good Catholic if they support abortions … period. Re-unification with the Church of Rome requires confession of sin and forgiveness. Biden is claiming his religious affiliation fraudulently.</p>
<p>But even those personal traits would not make me vote against a person. I look at the issues. So, what are the issues that will have me voting for team-GOP?</p>
<p>I believe that Democrats will:</p>
<p>1. Move toward permanent empowerment by increasing the size of the Supreme Court in an audacious political power-grab. Democrats have long used the courts to weaken the essential powers of the co-equal Executive and Legislative Branches.</p>
<p>2. Reverse the de-regulation that the Trump administration has accomplished – and this will be destructive to the free-market economy and further advance one-party power over the central government by moving decision-making far from the reach of we the people.</p>
<p>3. Return to cutting the power of the American military by reductions in budget.</p>
<p>4. Continue their assault on the First Amendment protections of free speech and religion – declaring that alternative political viewpoints can be censored and even outlawed.</p>
<p>5. Cement their alliance with the major media and the oligarchs of American enterprise – especially the social media giants – into increasingly fascist-style governance.</p>
<p>6. Restore the practice of keeping urban minorities subjugated in poverty through the misuse of the welfare system – just as conservative governance has been improving the economic life of those trapped in the segregated ghettoes.</p>
<p>7. Block all efforts to provide quality education to currently disadvantaged students through school choice.</p>
<p>8. Force union expansion for the benefit of the major labor leaders even though today’s trade-unionism has been a disaster for workers. That is why so many of the eight percent of the union workers in America vote against the endorsements of Democrat candidates.</p>
<p>9. Return to a pro-Palestinian policy despite the accomplishments of the Trump administration in the region – most notably the signing of a peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.</p>
<p>10. Return to a foreign policy that is based on the distribution of American money with little interest in American benefits.</p>
<p>11. Continue their campaign to ostensibly expand voter participation at the expense of ballot security.</p>
<p>12. Shift our rule-of-law to an arbitrary rule-by-power with the support of mob action. If you think that is a bit extreme, consider the model of governance Democrats imposed on the southland for more than 100 years after the Civil War and the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments.<sup><br />
</sup></p>
<p>13. Re-open the border to illegal immigration and expanded sanctuary venues to thwart legitimate law enforcement – including abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).</p>
<p>14. Undermine legitimate policing in communities throughout America.</p>
<p>15. And most tragically, promote racism as a component of their political correctness and identity politics that has already begun to tribalize the nation.</p>
<p>This list could go on and on. Each of those points would deserve a commentary – or more – to fully explain my concerns. Suffice to say that like so many others, I do believe that this is the most important presidential election in my lifetime – maybe since the 1860 election of President Lincoln. It is a tipping point.</p>
<p>This commentary is not to suggest that Trump has handled everything well. He has not. Democrats would like the handling of Covid-19 to be the ONLY issue. For me, it is not only NOT the only issue, it is not even the most important – and certainly does not wipe out all the other critical issues. It is still a binary choice – and if you are looking at the broad range of issues, it is still an easy choice.</p>
<p>My vote is not for me, but for my children – and all future generations. I will live out the great days of American Exceptionalism. They may not. If we continue to consolidate decision-making in our most distant and unresponsive government – and cast aside constitutional imperatives in favor of situational partisan governance – that bright light on the American horizon may be a setting sun.</p>
<p>President Reagan wisely warned us that we are always just one generation away from losing the American Dream. Looking at the radical left, this may be that generation. They truly scare me. So … I am not voting for Donald Trump, the person. I am voting for the Republic – and Trump just happens to be the leader of the best TEAM – with the best POLICIES and best RECORD &#8212; at this time.</p>
<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>
<p> ;</p>