The best conversations with someone of opposing views begin with the discovery that there might be some areas of agreement. For instance, we might all agree that political ads painting your opponent as the devil incarnate doesn’t garner many votes. These ads do more to demean the candidate who campaigns on their opponent’s alleged faults, rather than their own strengths.
We might also agree that the Biden/Harris ticket and what it stands for is the polar opposite of the Trump/Pence ticket. We can also most likely agree that any more debates will shed no light on the candidates and be thankful that the final two debates are off.
The following are some characteristics that this columnist thinks are important for the President of the United States to demonstrate:
* Trustworthiness is critical. What is the ratio of truth to outright lies, distortions, political hyperbole or just plain gaffes? Reviewing the past four years, there is one candidate who has a demonstrable record-breaking track record of excuses, blaming others and distortions of the truth.
* Developing a great leadership team. Expertise that is listened to, people of integrity, people that our allies respect and our enemies fear, people who are not afraid to tell the President that he is wrong and people that are loyal because the loyalty has been earned are all characteristics of the leadership team we should expect. The group surrounding the White House incumbent has come and gone voluntarily, been fired or indicted and convicted.
* The ability to respect expertise and develop policy based on scientifically proven facts. For those of us with friends and families that have had their loved ones die, who are experiencing the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic or have their children and grandchildren failing in school, the sad conclusion is that the White House has failed to develop a national program to deal with this tragedy.
* Showing empathy. Empathy means you care about those less fortunate than yourself. This means the 30 million who remain unemployed and may soon be evicted. This means immigrants who want to come to this country and are willing to follow the rules.
* Having the foresight to recognize that we need to address climate change and sea level rise. Consider people in California or along the Gulf Coast. Continuing to support fossil fuel use – rather than alternate energy sources – will put us behind a world that is quickly moving away from the old technologies.
* The ability to acknowledge the pain of others. Calling the folks who want to find a solution to police abuse of force a “bunch of thugs” ignores the reality of both the Black and Blue Lives Matter movements. Branding your opponent a “socialist” because he won’t abandon the 20 million people who have taken advantage of the Affordable Care Act does not solve the issues of improving medical care for all our citizens and taxpayers. There are 440 people in Graham County who would not have insurance without this program and every one of them should beware of the White House goal of killing this benefit.
* Respect for the voters’ intelligence. Dissing a patriot like Senator McCain – because he was a prisoner of war – and showing disrespect for Gold Star families is a slap in the face to our military. Abandoning treaties and organizations causes our allies to lose their trust in us and our enemies take advantage. Ignoring income inequality only angers the workers who see the corporate titans become wealthy as Midas, while they struggle to put food on the table and provide a better education for their children.
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Many of the residents of Graham County rely on the Good Book for guidance when conflicts occur. Consider Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
Should we trust the next four years to someone who has had few leadership successes and many failures?
Roger Carlton is a columnist for The Graham Star. He is a council member for the Town of Lake Santeetlah.