Monday night, I watched the first half-hour of the presidential debate. Then I went home to read a book. I couldn’t handle the nonsense on the television.
Simply put, neither candidate has even begun to address the real problems facing the country.
Hillary Clinton is one of the most corrupt politicians in American history. Through the Clinton Foundation, she exchanged access to and influence over the State Department for profit — even to foreign adversaries, such as Russia. Not only that, but Clinton’s career represents a progressive rejection of bedrock American principles. Her ideology tramples high principles like self-government and ordered liberty. Her proposed policies would not just hurt Americans’ pocketbooks at home and endanger their interests abroad. Her proposed policies would continue the seemingly inexorable path toward tyranny the nation has been marching for years.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, gives Clinton a run for her money when it comes to corruption; much like Clinton, he abused the corrupt political spoils system for personal profit, often at the expense of the American taxpayer; much like Clinton, he has unseemly relationships with foreign adversaries, such as Vladimir Putin; much like Clinton, the economic policies he pushes are inimical to both prosperity and the principles of a free society.
In Federalist No. 1, Publius wrote, “It seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable of establishing good government by reflection and choice.”
The United States was founded on certain propositions, expressed in the Declaration of Independence, which echo through the Constitution and generations of American statesmanship. Today’s increasingly totalitarian state puts men everywhere in shackles. In every sense, it is the antithesis of those principles at the heart of the country’s republican experiment. The right to exercise religion, the right to think and speak freely, even the right to life are all imperiled by these pernicious developments in American politics.
The only real difference between the two candidates is how they would manage the mammoth powers of the federal government. In some ways, Hillary Clinton is the lesser of two evils in this regard. In other ways, Donald Trump has earned himself this dubious honor. In both cases, however, neither does a thing to preserve the republic against enemies foreign and domestic — they both get in bed with those enemies.
A vote for either candidate is a vote of no confidence in the experiment of self-government. By refusing to so much as question the current state of affairs, the primary voters of the Republican and Democratic parties failed the American people. By nominating two politicians so manifestly unfit for high office — in character, in principle, in temperament — the parties failed the American people.
Watching the debate, it almost appears as though the country’s sole recourse is an appeal to heaven. Never before have millions of Americans tuned into a spectacle so foreign to the principles that made America great in the first place.
Any faith in either of these candidates is misplaced. The choice between Clinton and Trump is an intolerable choice. Duty dictates that citizens look elsewhere for solutions. America approaches crisis, and it’s time to get serious.
A host of third party candidates are running for election this cycle. They deserve the attention of every voter. At the very least, a strong showing from an independent candidate may create an opening for a new party in the future. At the very best, an independent candidate could win enough states to throw the election to the House of Representatives.
Entering the voting booth this year may seem suspiciously like walking through the gate into Dante’s Inferno. “Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here” we may whisper as we prepare to mark our ballots.
However, the state of the republic is not quite as hopeless as the state of the election, Though the political institutions of conservatism are weak, the movement’s educational institutions are strong. Students educated at places like Hillsdale or the King’s College or even Grove City are preparing for lives of public service. Conservative think tanks and magazines continue to promote constitutional principles.
Patriots are scarce during the long winters of discontent. But, when the nation calls, they will eventually answer. For now, neither major party candidate can save us. This election, we can only vote our conscience and hope and pray for a better future.
Lucchese is a junior majoring in American Studies and minoring in journalism.
