LIMA — It has been one of the most hotly contested presidential races in recent history with no lack of character attacks, complete with videos, emails and “Saturday Night Live” parodies. But as insults continue to be hurled between two highly unpopular candidates, what is really at stake for the nation in this presidential election?
“We don’t have St. Paul running against St. Peter in this election,” state Sen. Keith Faber, R-Celina, said at Friday’s Allen County Republican Party lunch. “If we did, we’d probably be better off. But in this election, we need to think about what’s important. It’s not about me and it’s not about you, but it’s about our kids and grandkids.”
So how could the next president, whether it is Republican candidate Donald Trump or Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, affect those future generations? Along with typical talking points such as the economy, Ohio Northern University political science professor Robert Alexander pointed to a few key issues to consider.
Abortion
“It has been a personality election, but there really are policy differences between the candidates,” he said. “Chief among them may be things like abortion. I think the third debate was the most policy-laden debate of the three, and that was one of the things that was made very clear, that Donald Trump would support Supreme Court justices that would undo Roe v. Wade and Clinton would try to maintain Roe v. Wade.”
Lima’s Deb Morey, a Democratic campaign volunteer and former teacher, pointed to this issue as one of key importance.
“This election is going to make or break certain issues, for instance, abortion,” she said. “If the Republicans sweep Congress again, we will probably see the end of abortion rights, period.”
Allen County Republican Party Chairman Keith Cheney also touched on abortion when contemplating how a Clinton presidency would look over the next four years.
“She is going to nominate people to be individuals to be Supreme Court justices who are liberal in thinking and agree with full-term abortion,” he said.
Supreme Court
How issues such as abortion will be tackled will hinge directly on the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court. With the death of Justice Antonin Scalia earlier this year, a prominent conservative voice on the bench, the judicial philosophy of the court is in question, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito and Anthony Kennedy tending to hold more conservative views and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer tending to lean more liberal.
“One of the arguments being made to sell Donald Trump to a lot of evangelical conservatives is the idea of the Supreme Court nominee, not necessarily Donald Trump,” Alexander said. “It would have a long-term, lasting legacy, and the fact that he has laid out a list of potential justices gives people the opportunity to say, ‘These are the kinds of justices he would put forward.’”
That was one point that Cheney emphasized in his reflection on the stakes of the election.
“The justices that will be presented by the next president, which will probably be a minimum of two and perhaps up to four — their decisions which, obviously, can override the Constitution will have an impact on the next three, four or five decades,” he said.
Allen County Democratic Party Chairman Jeff Rex also pointed to the Supreme Court as a vital issue to consider in the election, hopeful that Clinton could have a huge affect on the political philosophy of the group, taking it more in a liberal direction.
“There could be multiple appointees over a four-year period, and that is vitally important,” he said.
National Security
Rex also emphasized the need to foster solid international relationships and alliances, something he is concerned that Trump will be unable to do.
“When you start looking at the world stage, in terms of security and our allies and building those relationships with people, I think Hillary far outweighs Trump on that issue because of her experience,” he said. “I’m afraid that, with him, we may alienate some of our allies, which doesn’t help to contain or eliminate terrorism around the world.”
Cheney, on the other hand, said the current administration has already weakened America’s position on the world stage and that Trump provides an option for strong leadership.
“In looking over the past eight years, the respect for America across the globe has dramatically went to the negative catagory,” he said. “It is time that we reinstitute to our enemies that we are a strong America and we will be a strong America and we will have a military that we will support not just by words, but in equipment.”
Health Care
An issue on the minds of many Americans is health care, with Affordable Care Act premiums set to increase by double digits next year.
“Clinton said she wants to continue the policies of Barack Obama, and she said Obamacare will continue,” Cheney said. “We have families that are hurting and can’t afford their insurance premiums because they have gone up 25, 45 or even 75 percent. That isn’t working.”
For Morey, the Affordable Care Act is not “perfect,” but the fact is that it has allowed millions of Americans to be insured who would not be insured otherwise.
“Millions of people could be losing their health care,” she said. “It’s not perfect, but at least it’s something.”
While Trump has pledged to repeal the act, Alexander said the promise may be good to garner votes, but it may be difficult to make a reality.
“Obamacare is obviously an issue,” Alexander said. “Whether it would be repealed or replaced according to Donald Trump is another issue. Once something is in place, it’s really hard to get rid of it. But there are ways that the next president could certainly shape it.”
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