How to prepare to vote for your next president
Although the presidential election is still over a year away, we’re already being bombarded with advice — both good and bad — on how to best prepare to vote in November 2020. As a voter, I have a couple of my own recommendations, albeit perhaps a little quirky and unorthodox.
First, vote for values over policies.
Second, vote for love over fear. It makes sense to look closely at the substance of each candidate and assess who appears to possess the qualities it will take to succeed in a presidency. But adequate preparation requires more than just an impressive resumé. It also makes sense to base my endorsement on who best reflects a my standing on the issues making headlines. But what if these issues change?
Little in our world is stagnant or everlasting, including the lifespan of issues. Voting for someone because he or she agrees with my current stand on health care, climate change, Supreme Court nominees, immigration — or any issue — is just not enough. The candidate I choose based on today’s issues may not be the best candidate to choose based on tomorrow’s issues, and if that’s the foundation I used to make my decision, I may end up unsatisfied. Yes, let’s consider issues and policies, but let’s also vote based on personal values, a currency that rarely changes.
What values do you hold most dear? If you value fairness and honesty, for example, vote for the candidate whose past record demonstrates her or his display of fairness and honesty. If your most deeply held values include public service and hard work, support a candidate who has served the public and shown a consistent work ethic. You can detect a candidate’s values by how they act when they think no one is looking, by where they spend most of their time, energy, and resources and by how they respond when faced with a tragedy or trying times.
In “A voter’s guide to evaluating presidential candidates,” Mike Purdy suggests that many candidates run campaigns founded either on hope or on fear. I agree. But I’d argue that a clearer way of distinguishing candidates is to determine who relies more on fear versus who relies more on love. When a candidate is exerting the need for hope, he or she is running on a platform of love. When a candidate is dissuading the notion of hope, he or she is relying on fear.
In his novel “The Road to Character,” author and political commentator David Brooks likens love to “a plow that opens up hard ground and allows things to grow,” saying also that love “impels people to service.”
A campaign that exists on a basis of fear stirs up and ignites hatred, anger and short-sightedness. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley stated it best when she used the Republican response to President Obama’s final State of the Union address to say, “During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation.” Later that same year, in response to the horrific murder of nine people at Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, President Barack Obama spoke of a need to demonstrate grace and find the best version of ourselves.
The candidate who relies on love focuses on giving rather than acquiring; on seeking unity, not promoting division. We would all do well to remember this as we walk into the booth to cast our vote.