The US Presidential election will be held on Tuesday 3 November 2020. It is clearly the most unusual US election in history. It has been defined and limited by a pandemic. There was no big party convention with 1000s in attendance. Many events have been virtual. One candidate is hardly on the campaign trail at all, preferring to stay in his basement. Who could have imagined such a scenario, even a year ago?
One of the big concerns for the 2020 election is that voters will be looking at personality rather than policy. This is a big mistake. Serious governance is influenced by personality but ultimately guided by policy. There are serious issues at stake and we need to focus on them.One of the big concerns for the 2020 election is that voters will be looking at personality rather than policy. This is a big mistake. Serious governance is influenced by personality but ultimately guided by policy. There are serious issues at stake and we need to focus on them.
The Economy
This is often the Number One concern of most voters. In normal elections, the health of the economy can make or break an incumbent leader. Again, the situation is unusual: at the beginning of 2020 the US economy was in great shape in most areas (the federal deficit being the exception). Then the pandemic came, the economy was partially closed down, growth stagnated and many lost their jobs.
While there has been a partial reopening and rebounding, unemployment is an still and issue and also the US federal deficit. There was a stimulus bill of 2 trillion (two times a million dollars a million) earlier this year and there is the plan to run up another 2 trillion, with around $25 trillion currently.
Do we really want to pass on this debt to our children and grandchildren?
And if we demand fiscal responsibility and restraint, the government will turn around and ask: which federal programs do you want to cut first? Let’s start with ‘kosher food,’ and get rid of the pork ….
Questions: Do the candidates promise a tax cut? Or a tax increase? Will they retain tariffs on steel and China, or will they lift them? (Remember: tax cuts can stimulate business, which brings more revenue. Higher taxes are not necessarily applied to the deficit – usually, they go to fund new programs).
Foreign Affairs
As a superpower, US national elections are never exclusively about the United States. Its role as a military and economic leader influences what happens in the rest of the world. While there have been some peace breakthroughs in the Middle East, there are challenges ahead: UK and Brexit, negotiating a trade deal with the European Union and USA; Iran, its nuclear program and EMP capability (which they claim could affect 90% of the US population); the Iran nuclear deal JCPOA; the rise of China, its economic and military ambitions, and Covid-19;
Questions: What are the candidates policies on Iran and China? Do they want to send troops to the Middle East or withdraw them?
The Judiciary
The Trump administration has appointed literally 100s of judges at different levels, including two confirmed to the US Supreme Court. His appointment of ‘conservative’ justices is not necessarily a political thing, but constitutional: they take the constitution as it is written, which advocates limited government, separation of powers, balance of powers. ‘Liberal justices’ look at the Constitution as ‘living, breathing,’ and have been able to find ‘rights’ to socially progressive issues that are nowhere mentioned in the Constitution. This is called ‘judicial activism,’ or legislating from the court bench. This is a breach of the separation of powers and balance of powers principles of the Constitution.
Questions: Do the candidates want originalist conservative justices or judicial activists? Do they want to ‘pack’ the Supreme Court?
Moral Issues
This covers several areas but especially abortion, which continues to be a ‘hot-potato’ 47 years after the US Supreme Court legalised it. The court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision was considered a compromise which was meant to put the issue to rest. Instead, it has been seething for decades; the most contentious American issue since the abolition of slavery 150 years ago. The two presidential candidates diametrically opposite positions on this issue.
Questions: Where do the candidates stand on abortion?
National Sovereignty
Immigration, legal and illegal, is a big ticket item throughout the western world: Europe, Australia, Israel, and the United States. Do you want border enforcement?
Style and Size of Government
Do you look to the government to meet your needs? Do have health care funded by the government called ‘Medicare for All?’ A Green New Deal? Or do you want limited government, which maximises freedoms?
Gun Control
For non-Americans, it is hard to understand the emotion attached to gun ownership in the United States. It is an indisputable right of the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. There has been far more heat than light on this issue, but the bottom line is this: Should the Second Amendment be honoured or should there be even more stringent control on guns than there already is?
Religious Liberty
America has always been a beacon of religious freedom, starting with the English Puritans who sailed from Plymouth, England on the Mayflower and established the Massachusetts colony exactly 400 years ago. Yet, there are ominous signs that the New Left deliberately aims to curtail religious freedom for the sake of ‘equality,’ ‘tolerance,’ and ‘social justice.’
Questions: What priority, if any, do the individual candidates have on religious liberty? It is a high priority for you? Or it is expendable in order to advance the rights of sexual minorities?
Power in prayer
Whether you are American or not, you all have a vote. It’s call effectual fervent prayer with avails much (James 5:16b). With the stakes so high, be informed and prayer without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
It’s time to ‘watch and pray’ (Matthew 26:41)
A NOTE ON RESOURCES:
For the sake of being informed, here are some resources:
Intercessors for America offer a plethora of information on all sorts of issues. You can find them at:
The Democratic Party platform can be found here:
The Republican Party, because of the limitations of the 2020 convention, decided not to adopt a new platform, but continue to use the 2016 America First agenda. You can read the 2016 here:
https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/docs/Resolution_Platform_2020.pdf
A comparison of the policy positions of the Democrats and Republicans can be found here.
https://downloads.frcaction.org/EF/EF18H05.pdf