Letter to the Editor / OUR BETTER ANGELS

By Roger C. Kostmayer

Abe Lincoln, the first Republican President and probably our greatest president, pleaded with the American people to come together to form a more perfect union and to put country first.  In that idealistic American spirit, Joe Biden should personally and confidentially contact a dozen or so key Republican Senators to persuade another 2 or 3 to avoid a crisis.  His appeal should be along the following lines.

“No one knows who will be the next president or who will control the House and Senate.  But you and I both know that our democracy and ability to govern are in serious trouble due to division and hyper-partisanship.  This makes it difficult, if not impossible, to solve the crises we agree face our country.  This is a serious problem but, in my opinion, it’s also a rare opportunity to do what Americans want most – for us to work together in their interest.  Debating who deserves more credit for success is always better than arguing about why we both failed in our duty to the nation.

If I am elected President I will have no further political ambitions, and decisions you and I make now will be judged by history.  I promise you in good faith that I will do all in my power to work with you and others across the aisle, even more than I have done my entire career.  I’m hoping that the courageous and patriotic spirit of my Republican friends, like John McCain and others, is still alive because it is important to the survival of our democracy.

In order to get off the current collision course, we both have to be fair, avoid ignoring precedent and politicizing our judicial branch of government. That will require a few Republican Senators to be consistent, denounce hypocrisy and follow promises and beliefs expressed during the 2016 Judge Garland episode.  If you and I fail to grab this opportunity to do the right thing, we will be on a mutually assured destruction course that will be difficult to stop.”

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