With Labor Day upon us—meaning the election is around the corner—ask yourself: “Who would I rather see in the White House?”
A man who uses social media and press conferences to say where he stands, even if you are not happy about where he stands? Or a woman who refuses to hold press conferences and charters a separate plane for the press rather than allow them to ride with her and have an occasional chat as past candidates and presidents have done?
A man who is willing to seem like an anti-refugee racist in order to prevent terrorists from entering the country disguised as refugees, or a woman who welcomes tens of thousands of Syrian refugees even before the FBI has a satisfactory vetting process in place?
A man who will do all he can to stem the tide of illegal immigration, including building a wall on our border with Mexico, or a woman who would assure non-felon illegals that they will never be deported and even go beyond the assurances already offered by Obama?
A man who refuses to release his tax returns, probably because they show he is not as rich as he claims and has paid the low effective rate common for real estate developers, or a woman who refused to make her e-mails available, destroyed many, carelessly risked national security in an effort to conceal that donations to Clinton Foundation provided access to her at the State Department, and lied about all of the above?
A man with no experience of elective office but wide experience in the private sector, or a woman with almost no experience in the private sector, but extensive experience in the public sector, including in high elective and appointed office?
A man who doesn’t know the names of many presidents of many countries, and couldn’t pronounce them if he did, or a woman who surely does and can, but who thought she had “reset” relations with Putin, publicly blamed the Benghazi murder of our diplomats on a video while privately conceding that was not the case, called Assad a “reformer”, presided over the foreign policy of an administration that reduced Libya to a failed state, ceded control of the South China Sea to China and its militarized islands, did nothing when Putin invaded Ukraine and seized Crimea, and put Iran on the path to a nuclear weapon manufactured in facilities now protected by Russian missile systems?
A man who wants to lower taxes and unwind parts of the regulatory state erected by Obama, or a woman who has promised to raise taxes on the rich and double down on regulation, especially of the financial sector?
A man whose temperament is such that he suffers slights badly, or a woman who is part of an administration that does not react to slights, allowing Russian aircraft to buzz our ships in international waters and Iranian boats to harass our naval vessels, an act the administration spokesman characterizes as “unprofessional”?
A man who has promised to end the slaughter on the streets of Chicago and has consistently backed the cops, or a woman who supports Black Lives Matter?
A man who will appoint conservative Supreme and lower court justices in the image of Antonin Scalia, or a woman who will appoint liberals in the image of Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
A man who wants to use available funds to rebuild our military, or a woman with a list of new and expanded domestic entitlement programs to fund?
A man who trucks with some disreputable elements of the hard right, or a woman who is beholden to the Elizabeth Warren-Bernie Sanders left of the Democratic Party?
Your answers might help you choose between two unloved candidates.
