Get out of this presidency while you can

America got a good, hard look at the contrast between two candidates for the highest office in the land Tuesday night, if you could stomach it.

One of the candidates for president was able to denounce white supremacy. Hardly a profile in courage, but here we are.

The other failed this most basic test, instead telling a gang of racist goons to “stand back and stand by.”

One of the candidates on stage Tuesday night communicated his belief that America is capable of holding an election and counting votes.

The other did not.

This was not a surprise; the other candidate has repeatedly undermined our republic and democracy by:

• inviting Russia and China to meddle in our elections;

• instructing supporters to commit a felony by voting twice;

• encouraging voter intimidation;

• calling for ballots to be tossed out;

• refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power.

This is not a matter of party politics for us. Just this year, this newspaper has endorsed candidates left and right for offices near and far.

This is beyond and above politics.

Do you denounce white supremacy? Do you support the peaceful transfer of power in America? These questions should not be a matter of party politics. These are not difficult questions. These are not questions that should be answered with hemming or hawing or whataboutism. Enough.

Stop coddling neo-Nazis.

Stop undermining the election.

Stop supporting Donald Trump.

This country needs a president who can lead it out of division and despair, and most importantly, out of this pandemic.

Donald Trump has had the time. He has had the opportunity. He’s blown it.

Americans are dying every day because of their president’s incompetence and neglect.

Donald Trump’s failed leadership has done nothing to stop a pandemic that has, so far, killed 69 times as many Americans as the Sept. 11 attacks.

More Americans have died in this pandemic than in the 9/11 attacks, Pearl Harbor, Afghanistan, Iraq and Korean and Vietnam wars combined.

COVID-19 has killed more than 207,000 Americans. The death toll is rising every day.

Trump’s response to this pandemic has left Americans angry and frustrated at home and pitied and mocked abroad.

The buck stops where? And so this is not just an endorsement of Joe Biden for president.

This is a disaster warning. This nation cannot stand four more years of Donald Trump’s failed leadership. It is ripping the country apart. It is literally killing Americans every day.

Vote. Vote as soon as you can. Vote while you still can. Vote this man out of office.

Vote.