Commentary

Many of us are worried about the future of our country as we enter the final stretch of the strangest presidential contest in history.  Will President Trump be re-elected?

This year has been unlike any other in American history:  Riots and organized lawlessness.  A questionable declaration of a health care “crisis”, leading to huge social, economic and spiritual disruption.  On an almost daily basis we have the assertion of new power and control by some government agency and “experts” over more intimate details of our life.  Teachers asserting the power to determine whether our kids will go to school.  Sports shut down.  On and on the list goes.

Against that backdrop of our continual turmoil comes the Democrat Party and their candidates – Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

For months now, we have been told by the main stream media and many pundits that Biden has a commanding lead in the race.  Polls purport to show that Donald Trump doesn’t have a prayer.

And yet … both history and common sense tell us that something is wrong with the picture being painted.

There are striking oddities about the Democrat Party’s strategy going into the fall.  First, the candidate himself.  A majority of Americans believe that Biden has serious cognitive issues; one recent poll shows some 55% of voters believe that Biden is demonstrating a decline in mental faculties.  And anyone watching his attempts to complete sentences or answer the most basic questions understands that he is simply not up to the demands of the presidency.  It defies common sense to believe that the American people are ready to turn over the nuclear codes to a person in such a condition.

But the problems for Democrats go beyond the obvious weaknesses of their nominee.

In a trend that angrily defies both history and reason, Democrats everywhere have intentionally, repeatedly tacked further to the radical left as the campaign progresses.  With cities burning, Democrat mayors not only welcome the rioters back for nightly encores  – they brazenly advocate cutting or even eliminating taxpayer support for police departments.  As the economy reels from government-imposed shutdowns, Democrats insist that we open our borders to more illegal workers, shut down the energy sector and expand Medicaid to everyone.  And in a bizarre bid to “appeal” to moderate/swing voters, the Democrat Party is advocating for school closures even as they want the federal government to print more money to pay public employees and public retirees more money for not working.

In what universe does this strategy make any sense?  What party would offer AOC a prime speaking opportunity at their pseudo convention to advocate more communism?  In what alternate world does it make sense to pick a socialist from California – whose electoral votes are already bought and paid for – as the vice presidential candidate?

Despite all the daily chaos we’re presently enduring, certain fundamentals of politics remain true.  The purpose of campaigning in the closing weeks is to win over those moderate, less-ideological voters.  That is how candidates and parties build a majority vote.  By that measure, it is perfectly obvious that the Democrats are jetting along on a kamikaze mission of spectacular proportions.

What is not at all obvious, however, is why the Democrats and their national operatives seem oblivious to their ground-smashing trajectory.  After all, there hasn’t been a Democrat campaign this radical since George McGovern in 1972.

That election cycle does offer us a few important insights into what may be happening inside the Democrat Party.  That year also saw tremendous social tumult – as a result of racial tensions and opposition to the Vietnam War.  But, like 2020, there was more at play underneath that: The anarchist movement became resurgent through the “counter-culture” movement.  The emotionalism and passions of that movement overcame reason within the Democrat Party.  The party became so internally focused that it lost all perspective on its visceral impact on average Americans.  With each new radical prescription for “social change”, Democrats managed to alienate larger swaths of the American electorate.  Richard Nixon- not exactly the most charming incumbent –  was thereby re-elected in a landslide.

So there is that history from which to draw solace as we walk into the most consequential election in modern history.

But there is more.  While not pretending in any way to speak for the Lord, it seems quite possible that the Lord of Hosts has blinded the minds and wits of those presently running things at Democrat HQ.  A spirit of confusion has enveloped the Democrat Party.  Their pride and rage at the values of the Christian Church have clearly led them into a very dark place.  This is producing policy positions which are just plain childish.  (EG: With rising murder rates in most Democrat cities, let’s eliminate police officers).  Rather than working to appeal to moderate voters, Democrats are doubling-down on stupid.  The only explanation for such self-destructive behavior has to be spiritual.

America certainly does not deserve more of God’s mercy.  We continue to slaughter hundreds of thousands of innocents.  We have thumbed our noses at God’s teaching about sexuality, marriage and personal responsibility.  Many of those God-defying social blights have been officially enshrined by the nation’s highest tribunal.  So there is no doubt that we do not deserve another term of Donald Trump as president.  But, then, we didn’t deserve God’s grace in 2016 either.

Donald Trump has striven mightily these past three years to right the ship, to restore Christian values to society and the institutions of government.  No one has done more to defend preborn children.  No one.  The president has fought to defend religious liberty and conscience rights against the Democrats’ vicious agenda to effectively gut the First Amendment.  Trump has courageously fought for Israel, including his historic recognition of Jerusalem as its rightful capitol.  In fact, the list of Trump’s accomplishments in advancing Biblical values is truly magnificent, particularly when one remembers the unprecedented hostility he has endured from many quarters of society.

That record of faithfulness inspires confidence in God’s extension of grace to America by allowing Donald Trump another term.

The next few months will be a time of great upheaval and conflict.  With every day we are confirmed in the certainty that we do not know what the future holds.  But we do know who holds that future in His blood-stained hands.  May the Lord deliver us from evil.