By james art Tthe hurricane of history charts a chaotic course. The storms of recent months have left political norms scattered across the landscape. The turmoil has rocked both major parties and left many voters uneasy and worried.
Former President Donald Trump ran his campaign under the specter of various criminal charges, some of which are surely prosecutorial overreach brought to cripple him politically. He is appealing a conviction in a New York case involving a real estate appraisal and has a reasonable chance of prevailing. Mr Trump has also been the victim of two failed assassination attempts in the past 14 weeks, one at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, the other on a golf course in Florida.
Meanwhile, Democrats have been thrown into disarray — at least temporarily — after President Joe Biden’s dark and woeful performance in the late June debate. The nationally televised fiasco provided clear evidence of Mr. Biden’s decline, making it impossible for his party to continue feeding Americans the unadulterated nonsense that the weak president remained “as sharp as a tack.” Within a month, Democratic operatives maneuvered to defenestrate Mr. Biden and elevate his running mate, Kamala Harris, as their new running mate.
Thus began one of the most cynical and ambitious rehabilitation efforts in the history of modern politics. A no-nonsense, unpopular vice president in an unpopular administration who blew up spectacularly in her 2020 race for the Oval Office, within weeks was remade as a purveyor of “joy” and a unifier of Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Mahatma Gandhi.
After that, Ms. Harris began to disavow a number of previous political positions. A left-leaning San Francisco woman who sympathized with the police defunding movement, raised the prospect of dismantling Immigration and Customs Enforcement and supported sanctuary cities is now casting herself as a hard-line anti-crime hawk. A progressive who was once billed as the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate and who advocated eliminating filibusters, packing the Supreme Court, and restricting political speech is now changing into a defender of “democracy” and the nation’s institutions.
A key component in an administration that openly wanted to put fossil fuel providers out of business now claims to be pro-fracking. A candidate who cast the deciding vote on the spending package that ignited the runaway inflation ravaging American families now claims to represent the interests of the middle class. A politician who says she wouldn’t have done anything differently in the past four years wants voters to believe she is an agent of “change”.
To aid the deception, Ms. Harris carefully avoids any unscripted interviews unless a friendly questioner swings the softball slowly enough for her to connect.
We are under no illusions about Donald Trump. His behavior in response to the chaos of January 6 was disappointing and indefensible – even though the constitutional handrails held fast. His tendency to dwell on past grievances is not helpful. His insistence that all the elections he loses are “rigged” is irritating and stupid.
But Mr. Trump has four years of experience as president for undecided voters to consider. Let us note that the Earth did not stop spinning while he occupied the Oval Office. Instead, his presidency was marked by relative global stability and a strong American economy. Inflation was an afterthought.
With the help of Congress, he cut federal income taxes for the vast majority of Americans and fought his way to attacking the thicket of federal bureaucracy that costs taxpayers billions each year while reducing economic growth.
Mr. Trump has appointed dozens of federal judges who respect constitutional limits on government power. He tightened our southern border, pressured our allies to shoulder more of the financial burden for their own defense, and proved a staunch ally of Israel. When the pandemic hit, he paved the way for the rapid development of vaccines.
Compare that to the four years of the Harris-Biden administration. International chaos abounds as the White House’s efforts at appeasement diplomacy embolden our enemies around the world. Two great wars are raging. The debt has grown to $35 trillion. Inflation has reached 9 percent, the highest level in four decades, in large part because Democrats can’t temper their insatiable desire to spend other people’s money. Bracket prices remain stubbornly high. Housing costs soared, including in Las Vegas. High interest rates make it difficult for new home buyers and burden families with credit card and other debt. If that wasn’t disruptive enough, Ms. Harris and Mr. Biden turned a blind eye to the border for three years, freeing millions of illegal crossers and making mayors in blue cities cry uncle.
Still, Ms. Harris assures Americans she wouldn’t change a thing.
Indeed, a Harris presidency, depending on who controls Congress, will set a course on a predictable trajectory. A two trillion dollar annual deficit, higher taxes, burdensome regulations, additional subsidies to various favored special interests, student loan forgiveness, border vacillation, and a continued march toward cementing a culture of dependency that celebrates cradle-to-cradle dependence on Washington grave, while undermining personal responsibility and individual agency.
By contrast, Mr. Trump’s instincts about the economy—tariffs aside—reflect the importance of fostering the conditions in which Americans can prosper and improve their fortunes through their own individual initiative. He has experience in border security work. His position on abortion — that he would veto a federal ban and that the matter should be left to the states — is more general than Ms. Harris’s belief that the procedure should be legal until birth. We believe Mr. Trump is also better equipped to deal with the myriad foreign policy challenges the next president will face.
Many voters are unhappy with the choice before them in November. They have a right. But when we weigh the political results of Mr. Trump’s four years in office against those of Ms. Harris and Mr. Biden, the contrast becomes hard to ignore. Donald Trump is the better choice.
The views expressed above are those of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.