Ohio voters have a chance to defend decency, democracy
We were born in Cincinnati and served in the U.S. Congress together when democratic norms, values and institutions were widely accepted. We are both Republicans who believe in limited, effective government; tapping private enterprise and civil society to first address public challenges; and our democratic form of government.
Under the system in which we worked, we were able to tackle tough public challenges, such as improving health care, controlling government spending, curbing unfunded mandates on state and local governments, strengthening national security, stimulating the economies of former industrial towns, helping to prevent and treat substance abuse, providing support to Wright-patterson Air Force Base and other facilities in Ohio, and confronting the AIDS epidemic.
In these efforts, we worked within a democracy that enabled us to have vigorous public debates, based on shared facts, that respected both majority rule and minority dissent. We recognized that reaching across the aisle in a respectful manner was fundamental to helping solve America’s challenges.
Today, we witness a very different environment. Studies show that democracy in America is in serious decline.
Candidates for public office are questioning the validity of our elections without surfacing any evidence, while undermining the public’s confidence in our system.
Claims of election fraud are made, but only in the states where certain candidates have lost elections. The media is attacked as spreading “fake news” when it shares a narrative contrary to a person’s own benefit.
This landscape has created confusion and chaos and undermined the ability of the American people and their elected representatives to get things done.
The forthcoming elections call the question on what kind of leaders we seek and state and nation we want to be. One of many examples is the U.S. Senate race in Ohio.
What candidates do and say matters in how they are able to govern. As Ohioans go to the polls this fall, we hope they will think of our country before party, our democracy before division, and elect leaders who will represent them with honesty, decency, trust and compassion.
Ohioians can also take a stand by signing a pledge on joinmoreperfect.us/ pledge to support our democracy with safe and fair elections, the peaceful transfer of power and the rule of law.
The future of our democracy depends on it.
John M. Bridgeland is former Chief of Staff to U.S. Congressman (now Senator) Rob Portman (R-OH), former Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council under President George W. Bush, and is executive chairman of an initiative that has assembled nine U.S. presidential centers across Republican and Democratic administrations to protect and renew American democracy.