The 30 Issues in the Presidential Election

It is easy to identify at least 30 important issues in the upcoming election. It is also clear that about 20% of the voters that aren’t Democrats or Republicans will decide the outcome, since about 40% of the voters will be diehard members of either party and will vote that way.

This means that President Trump and Vice President Biden will each need to get the attention of the “deciding 20%” by zeroing in on the three or four of the 30 issues that will make a difference to them. Because of the contention and polarization between the candidates and parties, perhaps some from each party will cross party lines and unless there is a tsunami of change, these should pretty much balance each other out. Therefore the uncommitted will elect our president for the next four years. There are many issues and likely much more than 30 but I contend each person will make their decision based on just a few of them, with the issues being different for each voter.

I suggest that when making your decision consider not only how you want our country to be led over the next four years, but also consider some of the effects of those decisions over much longer periods. Some of the long-range changes whose seeds will be sown are the possible composition of the Supreme Court, the strength of the Social Security and Medicare systems, our national security – not now, but for years later, the strength of the American dollar and the national debt and the interest payments that will need to be included in our annual budgets and how revenue will need to be generated from taxes. [There are many others but I wanted to steer away from clearly partisan issues.]

Also, while considering the personalities of the two candidates and their supporting cast and the leaders of both major parties, you might vote on the basis of who you like better or dislike more. Get past that. Look at the important issues and how well you believe they will be handled and vote that way. Those people will be gone, but the condition of the country they leave for us will remain and either permit growth or allow for deterioration.

I am not suggesting that one candidate or political party will do a better job than the other. What I am suggesting is that you choose your issues and cast your vote based on what you believe.

It is possible you would not like either candidate or party. However, those are your choices and I implore you not to waste your vote by writing in someone that cannot possibly win, or deciding not to vote. Voting is an important privilege of our freedom and we cannot discard it. Anger is OK, but indifference and apathy or nonparticipation is not OK.

I first explained some of this in a 2012 blog Parkinson’s Law Election Strategy and later in Parkson’s Law (look at Law #3 in that blog).

If you have any business or financial issues you want to discuss please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected].