Peter Zeihan recently released one of his daily videos entitled Delusional Biden and Demented Trump. He fairly accurately captured what many of us are concerned about – “this is the best we can do?” The electorate is divided into three groups (at least) – people like Vivek Ramaswamy and MAGA Republicans who are going to vote for Trump no matter what; people like Whoopi Goldberg and the Democratic base who are going to vote for Biden even if he has poopy pants; and a sliver of moderate Republicans and Democrats along with the 10% of people that are truly Independents.
How should this third group approach the 2024 election? They don’t like either candidate but they typically decide elections. Biden is clearly in cognitive decline and Trump comes across as a lunatic at times. They could sit the election out and let the party faithful for each side determine the outcome. Or they could look at the election through a different lens.
I remember my grandfather and some in his generation saying things like, “I don’t vote for the party, I vote for the man.” In this case, rational people can’t vote for either candidate based on his character. I would suggest that in 2024 rational people should vote for the party and not for the man.
The Republican party released its 2024 party platform this week. It reminds me a bit of Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America congressional legislative agenda in 1994. One might like it or hate it, but they get credit for making it very straightforward. It contains 20 promises, and it’s easy for the reader to say, “I like that one, I don’t like that one, I’m on the fence on that one…”
The Democratic party hasn’t released its 2024 platform yet, but here is a link to their 2020 platform. Hard to imagine it will be a lot different since they are the incumbents and won on that platform (although you could argue their victory was based more on Trump fatigue than this platform). It contains 10 categories of policy, and like the Republican platform, it’s easy for the reader to see what the Dems are for and against.
Neither party’s platform is going to satisfy all the desires of any rational person. So, rational people should read through these documents and determine which party’s platform best matches their most important policy priorities. If economic and fiscal policy, free speech, and energy independence are among your top issues, then hold your nose and vote for Trump, even if you have some issues with his isolationist tendencies and some aspects of his populism. If universal healthcare, climate change, abortion, and social justice are among your top issues, then hold your nose and vote for Biden even if you’re concerned about his health and some other aspects of their platform.
The nation is not doomed if either candidate wins. Our system is resilient and the pendulum always swings when we go too far in any one direction. So, ignore the “if so-and-so wins, it’s the end of America – this is the most important election in our history…” speech coming from both sides. Remember, having half a pie is better than no pie, so don’t sit the election out!
I say the last 4 years have been pretty good, my investment portfolio has increased dramatically, unemployment is the lowest ever, inflation is under control, the US is a net energy exporter. Four years ago was pretty bad, people were shooting each other and burning down cities, Covid running rampant and a lynch mob was storming the capital, and everyone was learning how to hate each other. If it weren’t for the Russians and Putin, most of our world problems would be minimal. The US is in better place to succeed than any other country in the world, hands down. Both sides of the aisle agree We just had the most secure election in the history of mankind and all trump can talk about was the BigSteal.
The platforms for both parties are empty, they state what they want but no plan to accomplish said goals.
4 more good years
No more chaos like the prior 4 years
That’s a pretty impressive selective memory you have. Giving Biden credit for things he didn’t control (like the recent bull market) and blaming Trump for things he didn’t control (like COVID and the BLM riots). Where can I buy a set of those filtered glasses?