Election 2024: Taking Sides
The Awkward Pose takes its name from a yoga pose in which the feet rest flat on the floor while the knees, hips, and shoulders are all bent at ninety-degrees. It ought to be an easy position to hold, since both feet are planted firm. Yet, the awkward pose is devilishly difficult. The blog’s byline, “Seeking Balance in a World of Opposing Tension,” affirms my objective to seek the center of gravity by exploring issues through multiple perspectives. I believe that’s what conscientious living requires.
We are seven months away from a presidential election between two old white guys we’ve all seen lots of already. Regular readers know that my politics aren’t difficult to discern, yet I strive to vent both sides of any issue, and have never ‘officially’ supported a particular party or candidate.
Unfortunately, in this election the two candidates cannot be measured by simply weighing their various enunciations, past successes, or proposed programs. This year, I have to take sides.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump are remarkably different candidates. Since each has already served as our President, we know each man’s style of governing. Each articulates a distinct vision for our nation. Each offers a specific agenda for how to chart our future. I believe that the Democrats have some good policy positions, and some poor ones. Ditto the Republicans. Personal policy preferences alone would not entice me take a public stand in this election.
However, anyone who casts their vote in November based on Trump’s or Biden’s position on abortion, inflation, Gaza, Tik Tok, Ukraine, or immigration isn’t paying full attention. There is only one truly important issue in this election: the future of our representative democracy. One candidate supports us continuing to struggle through the American experiment. One candidate wants to stop it: right here, right now, with himself at the helm.
Joe Biden is, frankly, boring. He just goes about his job, getting a whole lot more done than most of us ever thought possible. I don’t like everything he’s done, but I appreciate his focus on bipartisanship and that he governs within the established guidelines of our Republic.
Donald Trump is endlessly fascinating. The master manipulator has captured our rapt attention for over a decade. Some of us love him. Some of us love to hate him. No one is neutral on the subject of Donald Trump. He says so many things, in so many ways, using such simple words, that we can all pick and choose what we hear. And what I hear rings alarms. Calling citizens who stormed our Capital heroes. Claiming unprecedented executive privilege for his role in January 6. Belittling legitimate indictments against him as a “witch hunt.” Condemning immigrants as “vermin.” Stating that he, and only he, can lead America out of a darkness that only he defines. Proclaiming that he will not be a dictator when reelected, “Other than on Day One.”
Trump has no intention of governing within the established guidelines of our Republic, and if we give him the chance, he will subvert them to his own pleasing.
I am a longtime fan of John Adams: patriot; statesman; US President; and author of the Massachusetts Constitution (which became the blueprint for our Federal Constitution). Adams’ most famous dictum is a simple one: we are a nation of laws, and not men.
In this election, we are presented with one candidate, Joe Biden, who serves the ideal that we are a nation of laws. Whereas Donald Trump wants to turn the United States into a country run by one man.
If Donald Trump is elected President in 2024, there is a measurable chance that it will be the last ‘real’ election held in this nation for some time.
This November, vote to preserve democracy.
