We are about seven months away (give or take) from the Iowa Caucus. As you will hear repeatedly during the next 18 months or so — this is the most important election of your lifetime.
And that’s true. This is the most important election of your lifetime — because it’s the current one. It’s literally the one you can most immediately do something about.
To my knowledge, nobody has a time machine that will take us back to 2020 and allow us to fix what was rigged. Nobody is looking at the 2024 election and thinking, “You know, there just doesn’t seem to be enough difference between the two parties — I think I’ll sit this one out and wait until 2028.”
This is it. Some might say huge.
I have a lot of friends supporting Donald J. Trump for President. I also have a lot of friends supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for President. And I’m sure I even have some friends supporting some other Republican.
There’s still plenty of time to determine which route to take. But in order to determine a route, we need to determine the desired destination.
And what is the best way to achieve this desired destination?
There is going to be a lot of noise in the next seven months. A lot. There will be countless — well, someone somewhere is probably going to keep a count — but there will be a lot of visits from presidential candidates. They’ll tickle our ears with what they think we want to hear. They’ll spin things. They’ll take credit for things. They’ll sign some book they’ve already written. They’ll have a bus. They’ll stop at a Pizza Ranch. They’ll ask for your vote.
The challenge for Iowans is this — do not get caught up in the courting process of presidential candidates. My advice?
Keep it simple, stupid.
Don’t get complicated. Don’t get into the weeds. Trust your eyes.
In 2024, policy must be our priority. I truly believe our country is on the brink of reaching the point of no return. We cannot get sidetracked by personalities, punchlines or politicians.
Policy must be our guide.
Thankfully, just about every one of the major candidates in the field has a track record of policy we can base our decision.
The two alphas in the race — Trump and DeSantis — both offer plenty of policy wins to appreciate.
We’ll have plenty of time — seven months, give or take — to examine those. But I want to caution caucusgoers about prioritizing personality over policy.
There will be some people who caucus for Donald J. Trump because they like his personality. There will be others who caucus for someone else because they don’t like Trump’s personality.
But do not take your eye off the ball — with the ball of course being policy.
We cannot afford to be distracted. We can’t afford to get caught up in nicknames or tweets or anything that isn’t policy.
Because in the end, that’s literally the job of the President — push policy.
I’m not concerned quite yet with the whole “(Fill-in-the-blank) has the best chance to win the general election” because we are still 18 months out from the general election. We have no idea who has the best chance to win the general election. And up until two weeks before 2016, there were Republican operatives in Iowa who called on Trump to get out of the race — because he had no chance.
Then he won the presidency.
Iowans have to examine the policies and the records of those running for the White House. It’s our duty.
And we have to exercise our discernment in such a way that we do not allow ourselves to get caught up in some personality — good, bad or indifferent — and instead approach the caucus fixated on policy.
It’s important to meet the candidates and hear their pitch. It’s equally important to do your own research and draw your own conclusion.
But the driving force in your decision should be what they have accomplished on the issues most important in your life — their policies on those issues should be what garners your support, not their personality.
In 2024 we need a nominee with depth, maturity, discipline and principles. A nominee who has the most proven conservative track record as it pertains to policy.
Who is that nominee? Well, time will tell. Each of us as individuals may reach different conclusions.
But if we allow anything other than policy to be our guide in who we support for the caucus — we are selling ourselves short and doing a disservice to the rest of the country.
This one is too important to pin on personality. It has to be based on policy. Now is a good time to start researching. If you do it right — with an open mind and an honest effort — you just might be surprised where you end up.
Ignore personality, focus on policy. It’s our best bet to change the country’s course.
