Consider Our Presidential Options: Trump vs Harris

Throughout our nation's history, we've had a two-party system, with the two major parties, Republican and Democrat, dominating the elections. Platforms (formal political goals) of the final presidential candidates have varied significantly throughout the nation's nearly 225 years. Equally, the plank (opinions and viewpoints held by candidates about specific topics) held by the opposing candidates has varied dramatically throughout our nation's history. Our nation's first political platform finds its roots in its birth year, 1776, when Thomas Paine advocated freedom from the rule of Great Britain and proposed a constitution for the new United States. Since then, platforms ranged from Grover Cleveland's Democratic party's endorsement of "the efforts of our Democratic Representatives in Congress to secure a reduction of excessive taxation" to Herbert Hoover's Republican party's proposals to "cure a period of widespread distress and of an economic depression that has swept the world" to FDR's Democratic party's promise to "defend against external attack and justify by internal progress the system of government and way of life from which the Democratic Party takes its name" to Thomas Dewey's Republican party's promise to "restore maximum voluntary cooperation between citizens and minimum dependence on law." The points of emphasis varied significantly throughout the centuries. Still, each seemed to focus on securing tenants established at the nation's birth: freedom from tyranny, over-taxation, and freedom from external force. In short, though representing the political goals of differing parties, the platforms primarily reflected the theme in Thomas Paine's first platform: freedom and national sovereignty. But is that the case in our current round of primary election platforms, or is one good and the other evil? Is one the sheep and the other the wolf in sheep's clothing? After reading the main points of each, you decide, then, by all means, VOTE!

2024 Platforms

Democratic

• The Democratic platform begins with a Democratic National Convention Land Acknowledgement that starts with the following: "The Democratic National Committee wishes to acknowledge that we gather together to state our values on lands that have been stewarded through many centuries by the ancestors and descendants of Tribal Nations who have been here since time immemorial." The preamble's first paragraph states the following: "Our nation is at an inflection point. What kind of America will we be? A land of more freedom, or less freedom? More rights or fewer? An economy rigged for the rich and powerful, or where everyone has a fair shot at getting ahead? Will we lower the temperature in our politics and come together, or treat each other as enemies instead?" What follows is a list of claims and promises found within the balance of the preamble:

  • The stakes in this election are enormously high.

  • President Biden and Vice President Harris turned a setback into a great American comeback for working families.

  • We’ve created nearly 16 million jobs, a record number of small businesses are being started, and factories are coming home.

  • Democrats will fix the tax system so everyone has a fair shot

  • We will restore the right to choose.

  • Donald Trump has a very different vision – one focused not on opportunity and optimism, but on revenge and retribution; not on the American people, but on himself.

  • [Republicans] are eroding our democracy with lies and threats, have refused to denounce political violence, and are making it harder to vote.

  • [We promise to] tackle the climate crisis, lower energy costs, and secure energy independence.

• The body of the Democratic platform consists of the following:

  • Growing our Economy from the Bottom-up and Middle-out

  • Rewarding Work, Not Wealth

  • Lowering Costs

  • Tackling the Climate Crisis, Lowering Energy Costs, & Securing Energy Independence

  • Protecting Communities & Tackling the Scourge of Gun Violence

  • Strengthening Democracy, Protecting Freedoms, & Advancing Equity

  • Securing our Border & Fixing the Broken Immigration System

  • Advancing the President's Unity Agenda

  • Strengthening American Leadership Worldwide

Republican

• The Republican platform begins with a simple dedication statement: "To the Forgotten Men and Women of America." The preamble, titled "American First: A Return to Common Sense," follows, listing the party's promises (original document in all caps):

  • SEAL THE BORDER, AND STOP THE MIGRANT INVASION

  • CARRY OUT THE LARGEST DEPORTATION OPERATION IN AMERICAN HISTORY

  • END INFLATION, AND MAKE AMERICA AFFORDABLE AGAIN

  • MAKE AMERICA THE DOMINANT ENERGY PRODUCER IN THE WORLD, BY FAR!

  • STOP OUTSOURCING, AND TURN THE UNITED STATES INTO A MANUFACTURING SUPERPOWER

  • LARGE TAX CUTS FOR WORKERS, AND NO TAX ON TIPS!

  • DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION, OUR BILL OF RIGHTS, AND OUR FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS, INCLUDING FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF RELIGION, AND THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS

  • PREVENT WORLD WAR THREE, RESTORE PEACE IN EUROPE AND IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND BUILD A GREAT IRON DOME MISSILE DEFENSE SHIELD OVER OUR ENTIRE COUNTRY -- ALL MADE IN AMERICA

  • END THE WEAPONIZATION OF GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

  • STOP THE MIGRANT CRIME EPIDEMIC, DEMOLISH THE FOREIGN DRUG CARTELS, CRUSH GANG VIOLENCE, AND LOCK UP VIOLENT OFFENDERS

  • REBUILD OUR CITIES, INCLUDING WASHINGTON DC, MAKING THEM SAFE, CLEAN, AND BEAUTIFUL AGAIN

  • STRENGTHEN AND MODERNIZE OUR MILITARY, MAKING IT, WITHOUT QUESTION, THE STRONGEST AND MOST POWERFUL IN THE WORLD

  • KEEP THE U.S. DOLLAR AS THE WORLD’S RESERVE CURRENCY

  
  

• The body of the Republican platform consists of the following (original document in all caps):

  • DEFEAT INFLATION AND QUICKLY BRING DOWN ALL PRICES.

  • SEAL THE BORDER AND STOP THE MIGRANT INVASION.

  • BUILD THE GREATEST ECONOMY IN HISTORY.

  • BRING BACK THE AMERICAN DREAM AND MAKE IT AFFORDABLE AGAIN FOR FAMILIES, YOUNG PEOPLE, AND EVERYONE.

  • PROTECT AMERICAN WORKERS AND FARMERS FROM UNFAIR TRADE.

  • PROTECT SENIORS.

  • CULTIVATE GREAT K-12 SCHOOLS LEADING TO GREAT JOBS AND GREAT LIVES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.

  • BRING COMMON SENSE TO OUR GOVERNMENT AND RENEW THE PILLARS OF AMERICAN CIVILIZATION.

  • GOVERNMENT OF, BY, AND FOR THE PEOPLE.

  • RETURN TO PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.

Of course, the main points listed above do not reflect the entirety of each party's political goals—the devil is in the details. The main points reflect the what; the details reflect the how. Let's take a look at the how of each of the platforms when dealing with the border problem:

Republicans promise to "seal the border and stop the migrant invasion," but how?

1. Shift massive funds from federal law enforcement to immigration enforcement.

2. Increase illegal entry penalties, reinstate "Remain in Mexico" and other policies that helped reduce illegal immigration, invoke the Alien Enemies Act to remove all known or suspected gang members, and use Title 42 to end the child trafficking crisis.

3. Begin the most extensive deportation plan in American history.

4. Use existing law to keep foreign Christian-hating communists, Marxists, and Socialists out of America.

5. Cut federal funding to sanctuary jurisdictions.

6. Prioritize merit-based immigration, ensuring those admitted to our country contribute positively to our society and economy.

Democrats promise to "seal our border and fix the immigration system," but how?

1. We need Congress to strengthen requirements for valid asylum claims.

2. With humanitarian exceptions, temporary emergency authority is needed to shut down the border.

3. We need more resources and Congressional authorization to increase penalties to prosecute and punish human smugglers and traffickers who prey upon families and migrants.

4. Deploy more cutting-edge inspection machines to help detect fentanyl at our ports of entry.

5. Provide orderly, legal immigration pathways for those fleeing violence and decrease the number of illegal border crossings.

6. Keep families together and support long-term undocumented individuals, including "dreamers."

7. Make scheduling appointments at U.S. ports of entry safer and more orderly.

Each of the platforms is a long document. It would take the average reader approximately an hour to read, but since it is true that "the devil is in the details," and given the importance of the coming elections, reading through the platforms is worth the two hours spent. As one reads, one should remember the ever-important original tenants established at the nation's birth: freedom from tyranny, over-taxation, and external forces, then ask which of the two closest matches those tenants and which is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Works Cited

1. List of United States presidential candidates. (2024, October 3). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_candidates

2. History, Art & Archives, U.S. House of Representatives, “Electoral College & Indecisive Elections,” https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Electoral-College/ (October 09, 2024)

3. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/app-categories/elections-and-transitions/party-platforms

4. https://democrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/2024_Democratic_Party_Platform_8a2cf8.pdf

5. https://www.2024gopplatform.com/assets/files/RNC2024-Platform.pdf