Having voted in 13 presidential elections, it has become apparent to me that the American people are usually faced with a choice between two flawed candidates. People have shortcomings, and it is no surprise that the people who run for President of the United States are not perfect – although they seem to want us to believe that they are.
I voted for George McGovern in 1972. I was young and liberal back then, but I voted for McGovern mostly because he was not Richard Nixon. I just didn’t trust Nixon, and Watergate later proved he could not be trusted.
The liberal press ridiculed Gerald Ford mercilessly, but I voted for him in 1976. He was a good, descent man who kept the Democratic Congress from excessive spending that would have made the financial mess we were in worse. Jimmy Carter won, made the economy worse, and then blamed the people for it.
If I remember correctly, I voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980. A lot of people did, mostly to get Jimmy Carter out of office. We the People would rather have voted for Mickey Mouse (another actor) than Carter. We were all hurting because of the Carter recession, and Reagan eventually turned it around.
There was a clear choice, for once, in 1984, and I chose Ronald Reagan over Walter Mondale … along with a vast majority of the voting public. Reagan’s ideas were working, at home and abroad. Back then, people had the good sense to stay with what worked.
In 1988, Geoge H.W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis. I reluctantly voted for Bush. Dukakis was obviously too weak to be President. Bush was an “establishment Republican,” but he was the lesser of two evils. I didn’t think Bush would fully support continuing Reagan’s policies, and indeed he did not.
George H.W. Bush lost the White House in 1992, in an upset by Bill Clinton. Clearly, the choice was between two very bad candidates, and I couldn’t bring myself to vote for either one. It is debatable whether third party candidate, H. Ross Perot, damaged Bush’s chances more than Clinton’s, or vice versa. I voted for Perot because his ideas were better. Perhaps it was a wasted vote, but he was the better man of the three.
The Republicans ran Bob Dole against Bill Clinton in 1996. Dole was a lackluster establishment Republican who didn’t campaign very hard. He was elderly, and he did not appear to have the vitality needed to govern. I voted for him because he was not Bill Clinton.
George W. Bush defeated Vice
President Al Gore in 2000. Basically, Bush
wanted to continue his father’s vision of a compassionately conservative
America. In other words, he was an
establishment Republican in disguise.
Gore’s sense of entitlement was a total turn-off, and he promised
nothing new except the Internet. I voted
for Bush, whose ideas were at least a rejection of the Clinton era’s
politically correct Progressivism.
Again, Bush was the lesser of two evils.
I was so glad to see the Clinton’s go.
Surprisingly, George W. Bush acquitted himself well during the economic downturn of 2000 and the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attack on 11 September 2001. He made mistakes after that, but the only one who doesn’t make mistakes is the person who does nothing. (Henry Ford) So, I voted for him again in 2004. John Kerry was a phony whose ideas were failures waiting to happen. A subsequent example of which is the defeatist nuclear agreement he made with Iran. He is not worthy of any public office, period.
The “too big to fail” banking crisis began just before the 2008 presidential election. John McCain rushed back to Washington to help congress deal with it. His selfless act may have cost him the election. Like Kamala Harris today, Barack Obama ran a “hope and change” campaign that was long on promises and short on specifics. I voted for McCain, mostly because I felt his running mate, Sarah Palin, was an effective advocate for conservative ideas.
In 2012, Mitt Romney looked like a promising alternative to the nauseating progressive garbage Barack Obama was handing out. I voted for Romney. That was before I found out what kind of people he and Paul Ryan are. Now, I would never vote for them again. That poses a problem, because I could never vote for a Democrat either.
I have spent much of my life serving society in the military and government. It is our duty to vote, which leads me to the 2016 election. I didn’t vote for Donald Trump in 2016. His conduct during the Republican primaries, his assumption that a billionaire can buy an election, and his super-sized ego caused me to question whether he was presidential. Of course, I couldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton. The Clinton’s are corrupt, self-serving, Progressive political operatives. Their tactics are ruthless and ethically bankrupt. There is no government office that Hillary is fit to occupy. I wrote in for Sen. Ted Cruz.
I voted for Donald Trump in 2020. His first term in office demonstrated his uncanny ability to identify the nation’s greatest challenges, and to come up with innovative solutions. He was unbelievably good for the USA. Unlike with Ronald Reagan’s reelection, this time the American people did not choose to stay with what was working. For reasons I will never understand, they elected Joe Biden. Mr. Biden has taken Jimmy Carter's place as the worst president in living memory.
On 5 November, we will again be voting for one of two flawed candidates. The purpose of this walk down memory lane is to show that this is not the first time. The primary election system has made candidate selection more “democratic,” but we need a better way of doing it. Kamala Harris’ candidacy demonstrates that the system can be subverted. Further, running for the nomination has increased campaign costs. The need for money is the root of many political evils, and we must find a way to keep it from tainting our elections.
I’m voting for Donald Trump. I am vigorously opposed to his reluctance to provide aid to Ukraine, and his public threats not to defend NATO allies who do not meet his approval. NATO is a treaty. Treaties have the effect of law, even taking precedence over other laws. The President of the Unites States is not above the law. The rule of law means that we are “ruled” by law – not by men. I do not agree with Mr. Trump’s idea that he can cut deals to solve the geopolitical problems that we face. We must oppose the enemies of freedom with every means at our disposal, including force if all else fails.
You can’t make a deal with Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, or the Mullahs in Tehran. They will make unreasonable demands, stall, and undermine progress. They will fabricate alleged violations of agreements, and then blame others for them. They will use the allegations as an excuse to violate an agreement when an opportunity for aggression presents itself. International relations are not the same as real estate development.
Taken as a whole, however, Donald Trump’s ideas are leagues ahead of the liberal, even Marxist, ideas of Kamala Harris and the Progressive cabal that is running the executive branch now. All Kamala Harris will bring us is more of the same failed policies of the Biden Administration, only on steroids. Pay no attention to her recent reversals on her previous stands. Once elected, she will revert back to who she really is.
It will be great when the
election is over. I’m sick of the
speculation and hype. I’m earnestly praying that God will cause His will to be
done. I’m voting for Donald Trump, and I
urge you to do the same. He is definitely
the better of the two alternatives.
