My Top 2020 Election Issues

In our diverse country, we each have political issues that are important to us and others that we barely care about. Those issues differ based on political party, age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, economic status, job, geographical location, and a thousand other things. In fact, the important issues change for individuals throughout life as our circumstances change. Listed below are some of the issues before us as a country for the 2020 presidential election. These issues are not absolutes. Differing definitions blur the exact meaning of each. Some are so intertwined that they can not be separated. None of them are single binary issues and they can not be addressed with a single solution. They are somewhat in my order of importance here going into the 2020 elections. The order may change as domestic and international events occur but they will all still be important. 

1. Climate and environmental change.
2. Health care reform.
3. Immigration reform.
4. Human rights. Including reproductive and gender identity rights.
5. Gun legislation.
6. Tax reform, particularly for corporations and the rich.
7. Campaign finance reform. 
8. The retaking of Congressional authority ceded to the President over the years. That's regardless of which party wins the White House.  
9. A more fiscally responsible budget.
10. Repairing our foreign alliances including trade.
11. Domestic terrorist crackdown.
12. Government corruption.

The top few are somewhat interchangeable depending on the latest news and current events. They are all vitally important. Climate change is both important and very time-sensitive. Inaction could be irreversible and deadly. 

I have no litmus test issues. If a candidate is aligned with me on most issues, she has a chance to get my support and vote. I think we should take every candidate as a whole. I did not agree with Obama on every issue in 2008 or 2012 but overall I thought he was the best candidate for the Democratic party and then in the general election. Likewise, although less so with Hillary Clinton in 2016. I also have optimism that my candidate will come around to the right view on an issue over time. An example is that I have for years been in favor of same-sex marriage, Obama was not. He eventually came around and supported it. I doubt McCain or Romney, Obama's Republican opponents, would have changed their minds.  

I think being a single-issue voter is dangerous to our democracy. That appears to be what happened with Trump. Evangelicals latched on to Trump because he allegedly was anti-abortion and promised to appoint judges that agreed with that stance. He has followed through on that promise, one of the very few he has fulfilled. Those evangelicals also got an immoral president who has committed a plethora of anti-Christian acts, statements, and policies. Trump was also formally a pro-choice advocate until he decided to run for president as a Republican. Always look at the candidate's entire policy, their life, and more importantly, their character. 

I believe most of the Democratic presidential candidates check off my issue boxes in general. The exact plans and implementations vary. I like some more than others. 

It is still early in the campaign and things will change. I hope our citizens pay attention and in November vote with their brains, not with their emotions. Make up your own minds, not what some TV network, newspaper, talk radio personality, or even a political party says to do. 

Decision 2020 is important. Treat it that way.

wjh