Ashton is one of our new contributors, and we are excited to add his voice. Self described as, "A lifelong conservative who opposes Trump," here is his introductory story:
If you told me five years ago that I would be excited to see a California Senator accept a Democratic VP nomination, I would have told you to go to an insane asylum. Growing up, I came from a rough background, a financially poor military family where my father was an Alcoholic. But one of the things I used to distract myself at that time was politics. My family was very non-political, so I started my political life, not leaning one way or the other. That was till, some time in mid-2007, I remember going through our tv guide looking for something to watch, switching channels just to see what’s on, and that’s when I found a guy with glasses in front of a chalkboard. Everything Glenn Beck said at that time made sense to me, and within months I was a self-described new conservative. I supported McCain in 2008, actively supported Romney, and even volunteered for Rubio in 2016. It just so happened during the crossroads of my political life, just when my political views were starting to get settled, Donald Trump came down that escalator (another article for another time).
So why do I mention all of this? It’s because sometimes our country asks more of us. It asks us to overlook our political preferences (which mine are very conservative) to keep the country whole, morally, and institutionally sound. My opposition to Trump isn’t solely on policy (there is plenty there to oppose), one wrong comment (or a million), or even any of his awful federal responses to natural disasters. My objection to him is mainly due to his type of politics and how it rejects morally responsible governance in favor of a blind race for power. I mean, years ago, I would have loved to have the supreme court and the senate majority. The thing is, none of that power is worth anything, because if you’re not convincing a majority of the country your changes should stay, nothing you do will ever have a long-lasting impact.
The founders understood this - That’s why they mixed congress with one majority and one plurality chamber respectively. George Washington knew this - He refused to run for a third term, knowing the fledgling nation needed a tradition of executives giving up power. Deep down many of us know this now.
That’s why I’ll vote for Joe Biden who is a good man, a faithful public servant, and a responsible vice executive. Of course, people will say “But Ashton he was in Washington for so long,” and I will respond, YES, and he helped recover the economy, stabilize our diplomatic relations, and then pushed our nation forward, towards what was starting to become a somewhat stable new normal, all while Donald Trump spent that same time complaining on social media about silly issues and conspiracies. Trump, after running his company into the ground various times, he would just go down to the banks or the government arguing for bailouts. Joe was trying to serve the public that whole time while Trump was only serving himself.
I didn’t always agree with the Obama Administration. I doubt I’ll always agree with Biden’s. But I know I’ll rest easy knowing he won’t tweet something at 2 am that will instantly divide this nation for months or make federal disaster responses political. I could go on for days about the bad things he has done, but in the end, none of that matters because he was never suited for the job in the first place.
Some will even try to say, "but Joe is radical" or "he will open the gates of liberal hell upon us all if elected." If that were true, and liberals, progressives, and Antifa controlled the party, he wouldn’t be the nominee! These are just sad attempts by some on the right at trying to demonize their opponent. In reality, they are just pointing out their own lack of serious arguments for their own candidate.
We need to go back to talking about the issues that affect our nation. We won’t agree on every solution, but we can make progress on the areas we do, but we need a serious president before that work can be done. We can’t continue wasting time with debating things like if a President should endorse QAnon conspiracy nutjobs, attack a tire company, insult a candidate’s wife’s looks, attack a POW. The fact we are even talking about those things instead of real issues that impact everyday Americans (like health care, the recovery, the virus, and wealth inequality) right now is itself a national disgrace. One disgrace that on November 3rd, I have full confidence America will correct. Trump’s presidency will be much like one of his marriages, it was really over before it ever began.
Ashton Spencer is one of our contributors. You can follow him on Twitter @AshtonBSpencer.
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