THE CLOSING ARGUMENT

And so we come to the close of one of the most tumultuous, caustic, abrasive election cycles in the history of the United States.  Only the Adams-Jefferson and Lincoln-Breckenridge-Bell-Douglas elections could arguably have been so vitriolic, so divisive, and yes, so consequential. It was an election cycle pitting a showman with an unbelievable track record during his first term as President against a clearly demented, career politician propped up by an establishment insensitive to its constituents.  It is an election cycle that saw one of the two major candidates get life-threateningly sick and recover in three days.  It saw the Left lose its mind and take to the streets in a wave violence and destruction while the people on the Right spontaneously rallied all over the country and, literally, danced in the streets.  And it was an election cycle where the wickedness of the media was exposed for all to see.  After all the lies, the deceit, the false accusations, and the pandering we have come to the moment where all elections must end.  We have come to the moment where we decide under whose leadership we wish to proceed.  And in this case, the choice could not be starker.

On the one hand, we have former Vice President Joe Biden, a man who clearly does not have the stamina to continue as President of the United States for longer than about six months.  Backing him is Senator Kamala Harris, the most liberal in the Senate. This team claims the solution to the COVID-19 crisis is for everyone to go back home and lock themselves in their houses; to shut down the economy.  They believe it is appropriate for the federal government to mandate that all persons wear masks.  They believe it is acceptable to tell the American people how many guests may be invited to their homes for a Thanksgiving meal and prayer.  They believe they can regulate whether people wear masks inside their own homes, and they believe that the government’s protectionist, all-seeing role is so overwhelming that it includes the authority to keep track of those who attend a private reception.

On the economic front, the Democratic Party believes that it has a duty to implement a Green New Deal, one that will cost over $36 trillion or $600,000 per household!  They believe corporations are necessarily evil, that taxes should be increased so the money may be used in a manner the government sees most fit, and that the productivity of individual American lives should be predetermined by government with the purpose of maintaining equality in outcomes.

Regarding healthcare, they believe that government should control it. They illogically maintain that healthcare is a right even though such a right would necessarily mean the compulsion upon some to actually provide it.  They believe that the care delivered to others ought to be paid for by the collective pocket of all Americans, even if those for whom the care is being delivered are here illegally.  And on a related front, they believe the border ought to be left unprotected so that all may trespass into the country unimpeded.  They believe socialism is okay and argue that the only reason it has not worked anywhere it has been tried is because it has not been done properly.  They believe in abortion as a right all the way to delivery and even to some unspecified time beyond the delivery, and they believe that all white Americans are racists, whether they know it or not.

President Trump on the other hand believes the United States is inherently good. That it is a country where the people, left to their own devices will accomplish unimaginable deeds, not only for themselves, but also for humanity in general.  He is the most unabashedly, unapologetically pro-life President in the history of the United States.  He believes socialism is evil, by definition, and that the free-market is the system allowing for the greatest quality of life.

On the issue of COVID-19, the President opposes any further shutdowns. He believes that schools should be opened; that people should go dine in restaurants, and that there is no role for a national mask mandate.  True to the federalist model of our constitutional republic, he believes that each state should manage its COVID response.  On the issue of shutdowns, President Trump unabashedly believes the economy should be opened, Chinese virus or not.

Trump’s view of American equality is based on opportunity, not outcome.  He believes in a strong American military, but more as a threat than an actual interventionist tool.  He views international frictions as opportunities in which new “deals” may be forged, not “treaties” or “coalitions.”  He believes Americans are not inherently racists, but rather, that they are being told this mantra to solidify the Left’s grip on minority groups.  And he believes that healthcare is not a right to apportioned by fiat, but a commodity to be sought and delivered by free people.

So those are our choices.  The question is, will we go with an American vision based on the centralization of power and the shaming of its citizens, or will we forge ahead under leaders believing in the decentralization and minimization governmental authority?

The difference in this election cycle is that we are getting to see the two camps laid out in their staunchest positions ever.  For the first time, there is no in between.  There is no grey.  There is no choice for the moderate.  We either believe in the vision coming from the Left, or the one coming from the Right.  In fact, so sharp has the contrast become that what used to be important and a driving force in his reelection, President Trump’s personality, no longer really matters. It is rarely even discussed.  What matters is only how we wish to move forward as a nation.  And that choice belongs only to us.

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— Benny (@bennyjohnson) November 1, 2020

EDITORS NOTE: This The Federalist Pages column is republished with permission. All rights reserved.