Policy vs. Personality
By Heather Weininger, Executive Director
As we approach the election, tensions are running high. This year, there seems to be more political division. Everyone has a platform, and everyone has an opinion. This can lead to dialogue and growth, but it oftentimes just results in broken relationships. Many friends of the life movement have reached out, expressing concern about supporting a man with notoriously bad character flaws. My answer? Policy outweighs personality.
With November 3rd right around the corner, I wanted to share some of my personal experiences wrestling with this truth.
I was a student at UW-Madison during the first presidential election in which I was eligible to vote. I was likely the only person in my circle of friends who did not support Bill Clinton. I was young, but even then, I understood that my values did not align with Clinton’s.
A senate page position drew me into the world of politics, and a few years later, I moved to Washington, D.C., to work for my hometown’s congressman. It was in this capacity that I attended a few White House events and heard President Clinton speak. Looking back, I think about his ability to easily draw the attention of an audience. He was easy to listen to, and even though I rarely agreed with his ideas, I found myself captivated by his remarks.
But Bill Clinton’s personality did not outweigh, or even excuse, his policy. Although I fully respected his position and authority as President of the United States, I chose not to support him with my vote because his policies did not align with my values.
Recently, I’ve seen President Trump have the opposite effect on people: they get so caught up in his personality that they neglect his policy.
It is easier to focus on a politician’s personality (or his tweets), but at the end of the day, solutions and accomplishments are rooted in policy, not politeness.
I understand, especially as a mom to four young kids, that we should be teaching our children to respect others in both actions and words. I know that we should hold elected officials to a higher standard.
President Trump has been a staunch supporter of the unborn in the White House. Not only has he called on Congress to pass life-affirming legislation, he has signed executive orders and spoken on issues like foster care, family leave, international policy, and much more. His administration has stripped the abortion giant Planned Parenthood of over $6 million of your tax dollars. He has consistently showed up for the pro-life movement by things like attending the annual March for Life, sending Vice President Pence to a pro-life pregnancy resource center, and inviting pro-life champion Abby Johnson to speak at the Republican National Convention.
Joe Biden, on the other hand, would undoubtedly be a puppet for the abortion extremism agenda. Biden has flip-flopped on issues like taxpayer-funded abortion and now ascribes to the policy of abortion without limits. He and his VP pick, Kamala Harris, oppose any life-affirming state protections, like parental notification, ultrasound laws, or facility regulation. A Biden/Harris administration would bring a culture of death to our cities.
If you, like so many others, struggle to vote for President Trump because of his personality, focus on his policy. See that voting against Trump would mean supporting the killing of our unborn. A pro-life policy outweighs an unpleasant personality.
Vote for a President who has kept life at the core of his policies. Vote for a President who has shown that life matters at every stage, from conception until natural death, through his executive actions. Vote for a President who supports your value of life. Vote for President Trump.