What's Tony Thinking

The Upcoming Elections: What’s At Stake?

On Tuesday, November 6, we have our first nation-wide elections since 2016.

What’s at stake?

Donald Trump has said it’s all about him. “I’m not on the ballot, but in a way I am.” There’s truth in that. The first mid-term after a new president is in office has traditionally been understood as a referendum on that president.

Of course, it is hardly a surprise that Donald Trump, who thinks everything is all about him, would say this.

Still, if the results are not to his liking he will find someone else to blame. But if he gets the results he wants, he will take all the credit.

Are the 2018 mid-terms all about him?

I don’t think so.

This election is less about Donald Trump than it is about us, the citizens of the United States.

It is about this country. It is about who we are and what we understand this nation to be about.

Are we a people who hold and uphold norms of basic human decency?

Or are we a society where it is acceptable to viciously demean anyone who gets in your way, to ridicule the vulnerable and to stir fear and hatred against African-Americans, immigrants and women?

If that is the country you want to live in, by all means, vote a new and stronger Republican majority into Congress on November 6.

Are we a nation of laws, a society where no man or woman is above the law?

Or are we a society where the people and institutions that uphold the law may be attacked and subverted for political purposes, where people are appointed to the federal judiciary who are grossly unqualified, and where those holding positions of power pay few or no taxes while using government positions for personal financial gain?

If that is the country you want to live in, by all means, vote a new and stronger Republican majority into Congress on November 6.

Are we a democracy where the will of the majority is expressed through free and fair elections?

Or are we a nation where voter disenfranchisement and gerrymandering are routine and acceptable? Are we a nation where foreign powers are allowed to undermine our electoral process with impunity and a shrug of indifference?

If that is the country you want to live in, by all means, vote a new and stronger Republican majority into Congress on November 6.

Are we a nation where the freedom of the press is held to be not only important but sacred?

Or are we a nation where social media may be used for the fabrication of false news with impunity, where the press is routinely described as “the enemy of the people,” and where assaulting journalists is glorified for the entertainment of heedless mobs?

If that is the country you want to live in, by all means, vote a new and stronger Republican majority into Congress on November 6.

Are we a nation that stands for basic human rights and for protection of men and women everywhere who oppose tyranny?

Or are we a nation that befriends and coddles thugs, that accepts with nods and winks their murder of dissidents, and is willing to sacrifice any principle for private financial gain or a booming economy?

If that is country you want, by all means, vote a new and stronger Republican majority into Congress on November 6.

It is axiomatic among those who study leadership that the person at the top of any organization sets the tone, establishes the norms, and shapes the culture. This is true for principals in schools, ministers in churches, coaches of sports teams, owners in small businesses and CEO’s in corporations. It is true for parents in a family.

As President, Donald Trump has set a nasty and vicious tone, established the absence of civilized norms as the norm, and shaped a culture of unchecked self-interest.

Is this who we are?

That’s what at stake on November 6.