Your goal is worthy.

I join you in wanting America to be great.  This is a quest that should unite all Americans.  But I worry that our country can’t truly be great as long as we remain divided, angry, and unable to agree on basic facts.  It seems like all we do is fight and undermine each other’s efforts to solve the country’s problems.

I appreciate your belief that former President Trump did much to help America be great again.  I hear your concerns that liberal Democrats and socialists are ruining the country by repealing and undermining many of the policies you believe in and fight for.  On the other hand, can you appreciate that many Americans—especially Democrats and Democrat-leaning Independents—believe that President Trump repealed and undermined many policies they supported when Obama was President?  I respect that you believe Trump was right in taking these actions.  But many Americans disagreed, fought, and felt a loss of progress.

Can we succeed acting alone?

Logically speaking, it’s difficult to see how America can ever achieve long-term greatness so long as we are constantly fighting and attempting to undo each other’s efforts.  For decades we have battled back and forth on key policy matters such as abortion, gun control, illegal immigration, climate change, crime, and health care.  Our national debt and deficits continue to skyrocket under both Democratic and Republican control.  Can you point to any long-term successes you feel the country has achieved?  I can’t. 

The vast majority of Americans, including 87% of Republicans and 85% of Democrats, believe that Republicans and Democrats are more focused on fighting one another than on solving problems.  Countless public opinion polls demonstrate that Republicans and Democrats blame one another for problems facing the country. Our practice is to blame the other party, stoke anger and fear, attempt to gain control of government, and then impose and fight to preserve our solutions.

I’m sorry, but this practice will not deliver long-term success on policies you believe in and fight for. Nor will it deliver long-term success on policies Democrats have been advocating. Instead, our practice actually thwarts efforts to find real and durable solutions to the problems facing the country. 

Think about it. You’re itching to elect former President Trump and gain control of Congress so that you can put an end to all the disasters of the Biden Administration.  With control, you can impose your policies on Democrats on such matters as illegal immigration, abortion, taxes, and government spending. 

But what do you think the Democrats will do?  Will they actively support laws and policies that have been forced down their throats?  Or will they fight tooth and nail to blame Republicans for problems, contest the policies in court, and seek to regain control of the White House and Congress?  You know they will fight, and history shows how fragile your gains are likely to be. After all, in just a few short years, Biden and the Democrats reversed many of the policies and much of the progress made by the Trump Administration. 

Is there a better way?

If we’re going to adopt real long-term solutions to the problems facing our country, we’re going to have to work out our differences and come together on solutions.  If we develop solutions that both sides can accept, we increase the chances of the policies staying in place.  By concentrating on solving the problem—rather than blaming, demonizing, and rejecting—we increase the chances of developing policies that actually work.  On the other hand, as long as we blame, demonize, and attempt to impose our will, we’ll never cultivate the communication and trust necessary to work through our differences.

Take, for instance, the surge of migrants at the southern border   Under existing treaties and federal law, the United States cannot prohibit or prevent migrants from showing up at the border to seek asylum. Migrants can seek asylum even if they were apprehended after crossing illegally. With the strong post-pandemic American economy, millions of migrants have sought to enter America, both illegally and legally.  Republicans have blamed Biden for a disaster at the southern border. Yet, we can’t really fix the problem until we change federal statutes through action by Congress.  Executive actions by Trump and Biden have had some degree of success, but most have been contested in the courts, and some have been overturned.  Just months ago, a legislative solution was actually negotiated by Republicans and Democrats.  Yet Trump and the Republican leadership rejected this solution to preserve the southern border problems as an election issue.

No matter who wins in November, nothing will change until we change.

As much as we share a passion for America to be great, I fear there’s not much hope.  Our political parties, their media allies, and we the American people are much too invested in the politics of blame, gaining control, and imposing one-sided solutions that end up being short-lived. 

I am further discouraged because many Americans no longer seem to care about the facts and proof.  For instance, repeatedly saying that Biden stole the 2020 election does not make it true.  Only court decisions, official challenges, audits, and hard evidence can prove this assertion.  Yet substantial percentages of Americans, especially most MAGA adherents, believe the election was stolen. You hold this belief despite the fact that dozens of court challenges, audits, and other inquiries have rejected claims of fraud and wrongdoing.  How can we possibly come together to resolve differences when beliefs are being formed with so little regard for the facts and proof?

The upcoming November 2024 election promises to be more of the same.  While it’s probably an empty pursuit, we should stop blaming and demonizing one another.  We should instead devote our energies to understanding problems and the many conditions that cause them.  Rather than succumbing to repeated rants that a particular individual or political party is solely to blame, we should search for solutions that address problems in all their complexity.  We should look for common ground solutions that can be supported by strong majorities of Americans.   

Achieving greatness requires the courage to shed the politics of blame and trust one another.

I do not expect this letter to change your beliefs or behavior. I only ask that you give it some consideration.  At some point you may agree that America can never be truly great until we come together as Americans. This will require a change in how our political parties behave and who we elect as leaders.  It will also require that we build understanding through focusing on the facts and respecting the need to provide evidence or proof to back our assertions. 

I hope, someday, we realize how great America can be if we stop blaming, put aside our differences, and work together for the good of the country.