I will be the first to admit, I haven’t been Trump’s most passionate supporter, and wouldn’t identify as a loyalist today, but I am genuinely eager to cast my vote for him. And as uneventful as it may seem, I went from apathetic to enthused while sitting in traffic, staring at the massive USDA building in Washington D.C. In that moment I grasped the magnitude of our federal government, and I was awed that one man could disrupt it so completely.
I am not dismissive of allegations, convictions, and personality concerns towards Trump. If I were in the situations he’s been in in life, I am confident that I would have navigated them differently. But to get a better perspective on the rhetoric that’s filling the airways leading up to next week’s election, we need to take a step back to 2015 and consider that Trump was an outsider who stepped into the public spotlight, on the wrong side of political correctness, challenged the political establishment…and won.
Not only in the 2016 election, but in many, many ways during his presidency. Trump’s win from the outside was a win for all of us, whether or not we admire his character. In case you haven’t noticed, our federal government is primarily run by individuals who have spent their lives campaigning through the ranks or spent their careers in governmental agencies.
When I ran for Congress on my first foray into politics, I encountered a few individuals who were offended that I had “gone straight to the top” without first “serving the party” and “waiting my turn.” Those who weren’t offended often thought I was nuts — a sentiment I couldn’t fault (I add with a grin). But I had a different outlook. I didn’t view it as going straight to the top, I viewed it as going straight to where I could best serve the needs of my neighbors and nation while following a very specific spiritual calling that I knew our family was uniquely prepared to fulfill, should God will it.
Having an outsider like Trump inject himself into a viscous, rotten political system exposed for each of us that this highly polished entity we had in Washington, D.C. was, at its core, a self-serving kakistocracy.
He didn’t have the decades of political favors, career ending secrets, donor strings, or consultant talking points to restrain him into political norms. Instead, he broke things. He said what was on his mind, built a team of people who were great at their job, fired a lot of people who deserved it (and some who just crossed him), appointed judges who were good for the health of the nation, inspired a lot of people, enraged a lot of people, improved trade deals with other nations, maintained peace internationally, deterred illegal immigration, and my personal favorite, started to gut the regulation of agencies that are not elected by you and I. Because of it, we all experienced the quality of life that is possible when power is given back to the American people, and I am hopeful for another season of it as he summons in a Government Efficiency Commission and cuts 10 regulations for each new one.
But I recognize that our individual quality of life does not justify a leader’s character for many people. And honestly, it shouldn’t. If you followed our campaign, you’ll recall that I ran primarily on principles, not issues. These principles are: Truth, Accountability, and Unity. I have had to do the hard work of reconciling these principles with how I plan to vote on Tuesday. When I scored each candidate against these principles, the scores were so abysmally low, I had to come up with a different metric to help me sleep well on November 5th. My new metric is: 1 over 346 million to 542.
There is 1 God who is King over all.
There are 346 million people in the United States.
And there are 542 elected officials in our Federal Government.
The first two have far more influence over the trajectory of our nation than the latter. My job this November is to do my part to put in place the 542 individuals who will best delegate authority back to the citizens of the United States while recognizing their own subordination to God. With that end in mind, my choices at the ballot box become much clearer for me.
Please don’t mistake me. I do not wish to tell you how to vote. My hope is to inspire you to come up with your own reasons to be confident, not ashamed, by whom you choose to vote for. I am challenging you to not be a closet supporter of any candidate. And I even dare you to tell someone who isn’t “safe” who you voted for and why to inspire the dialogue we so desperately need as a nation if we want to move from this tumultuous political season into one of peace — not peace from apathy or surrender to social slides, but of a more perfect union, with virtuous strength that is cultivated in homes and communities.
Vote by Tuesday. And may God continue to find favor with America.
Grant Bucher is a Bluffton native who was a candidate for
the Republican nomination for the 3rd Congressional seat
in the May primary. He wrote this for the News-Banner.
