The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer.
The original meaning of the term conservative, as articulated by Edmund Burke, was the desire to conserve aspects of tradition and social stability as society moves forward. It is this conservative philosophy I have embraced from my earliest days in politics when I worked for Barry Goldwater. It has continued to be my guiding principle through service in the Vietnam War, as a state legislator and then representing Southern Arizona in Congress as a Republican for 22 years.
I remain a conservative today. And that’s why I am casting my vote for Joe Biden.
I have five good reasons rooted in conservative philosophy that I believe argue for Arizona Republicans to reject Donald Trump and change the poisonous direction he has taken the party.
Republicans have been the fiscally conservative party in this nation for more than a hundred years. They haven’t been perfect by any means, but generally they have served as a brake on government spending and new programs. Not anymore.
Under Trump, they abandoned this principle and ran up the national debt $6.6 trillion dollars in less than four years — by no means most of it COVID-related — leaving us with enormous fiscal damage that will inevitably lead to greater taxation and reduced economic growth down the road.
The United States assumed the mantle of world leadership after World War II, making us the primary guardian of military security against totalitarianism. These security alliances continue to serve us well 70 years later.
But we also embraced support for a host of multilateral institutions such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization that allowed us to set the standards for governance and through cooperation helped spread peace and prosperity throughout the world.
This president has shown disdain for the mantle of leadership. He abjures that role in favor of a backwards stance of nationalism and isolationism that diminishes our standing with other countries in the free world and damages our own growth and innovation.
It has been part of the DNA of America since WWI to spread the values of democracy and freedom around the world, believing as I do that it enhances our own democracy and security.
But under the current leadership we find the U.S. ignoring democracies and instead embracing dictators and autocrats.
It has led us and our allies to shake our heads in disgust at the sight of President Trump kowtowing to Vladimir Putin and exchanging “love letters” with the murderous dictator Kim Jong-Un. America receives nothing in exchange for these humiliating displays.
Open markets and increased trade with mutually beneficial trading arrangements has contributed to unprecedented American prosperity since World War II. Trump has demonstrated a total lack of understanding of the fundamentals of trade and how this contributes to American prosperity, preferring to frame our national industries like a price-gouging landlord.
Finally, I have profound respect for military service and the self-sacrifice that leads young Americans toward careers in the armed service. I served on a Navy destroyer and later with a division of Swift boats conducting river operations during the Vietnam War. I saw first hand their dedication and sacrifices.
I served in Congress alongside Sen. John McCain whose service and sacrifice in Vietnam went far beyond what was asked of me.
I watched in disgust in 2015 as a draft dodger with a spray tan insulted John McCain’s ordeals of torture in a Hanoi prison camp, and was saddened — but not surprised – when later he called anyone who served in the military a “loser” and a “sucker.”
Trump is the opposite of a conservative. He has no respect for American traditions or respect for its institutions. His voters would only be fooling themselves a second time if they imagine he is in this game for anything other than his own interests and ego satisfaction.
There’s a saying in politics that you can’t just vote against someone but also must vote FOR someone. In this case, I will not just be voting as a statement against Trump.
I served with Joe Biden in Congress and while we didn’t agree on many different proposals, I know him to be an honorable and decent person with great personal integrity. He has demonstrated the ability to work with the other side of the aisle and to actually listen to other people to get things done.
Biden is more representative of core conservative values — socially and economically — than Donald Trump can ever dream of being, despite all the phony tinsel patriotism designed to bamboozle his base. That’s why Biden easily gets my vote, and that’s why he should get yours, too.
