As Election Approaches, Policy and Party as Important as Personalities

Star Parker on May 22, 2024

Of the 34 Senate seats up this year, estimates are the most vulnerable are Manchin and four other Democrats.

Certainly, on the social issues of great concern to the country -- abortion, our dangerously declining birth rates and marriage rates -- Republicans bring a pro-life, pro-family agenda to Washington.

And then, of course, is the position of our nation in an increasingly dangerous world.

Per the American Enterprise Institute, "China also now boasts the largest navy in the world, alongside the biggest coast guard and maritime militia."

This while U.S. Defense spending flirts with a historic low, at half as a percentage of GDP where it stood in the 1980s.

Hudson Institute scholar Walter Russell Mead writes in The Wall Street Journal, speaking about the aggressive advancement globally of Iran, Russia and China, "Many Americans still don't fully grasp how serious the international situation has become. ... Team Biden, unfortunately, would rather starve the military and embrace the diplomacy of retreat."

So, yes, every presidential contest is a battle of personalities. But let's not lose perspective that party is what draws the dividing line in Washington. And perhaps there has never been a time where the gap between the worldviews of Republicans and Democrats has been this gaping.

So, the mindset going into this election season should be about policy as well as about individual candidates.

Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show "Cure America with Star Parker." Her recent book, "What Is the CURE for America?" is available now. To find out more about Star Parker and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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