The recent vice presidential candidates debate offered this unaffiliated voter a chance to learn each party’s stance regarding democracy.
Sen. Vance offered the MAGA perspective: The role of the president is to govern by fiat with no real role played by the elected members of Congress. He repeatedly asserted that the president can, at personal whim, enact policy. He did this by pointing to supposed failures by the incumbent vice president (as if she were the president and Congress has no role) to wield policy by executive fiat. He clearly laid out the MAGA philosophy that the constitutionally mandated roles of the three branches of government can simply be manipulated or ignored by an autocratic presidency.
Gov. Walz’s perspective was in line with the Constitution. He described a political philosophy that respects the Constitution and the role of Congress in crafting policy to serve the American people. He did this by repeatedly speaking of the need for congressional bipartisanship to debate and craft legislative policy. He also, indirectly, described a philosophy regarding the role of the vice president (in the capacity of president of the Senate) as one of not simply being the tie-breaking vote in deadlocked legislation but as something of an arbitrator or facilitator of democracy preserving bipartisanship.
Among many, one thing became abundantly clear: The party of Trump will pursue autocracy at any cost while the Democratic Party is dedicated to conserving constitutional democracy. What is offered in this election couldn’t be clearer. It’s our choice: Autocracy or democracy?
Paul Garrett
Bayfield
