5 Key Campaign Issues of the 2024 Election
As we head into the heart of the 2024 campaign, I believe that these are five of the top campaign issues that should be discussed.
As we enter the 2024 election season, we are at a crucial point in our Nation’s history. Unfortunately, I fear that we are in for another democracy-busting presidential election, featuring record-breaking fundraising, a massive amount of negative ads, candidates who care more about winning than they do about the future of the country, and very little conversation about the candidates’ plans to address the biggest challenges we face.
Why don’t candidates talk about the biggest challenges we face? Answer: Candidates are told that the worst thing they can do is to talk about the issues. Instead, if they want to win, they should raise the most amount of money, and they should spend their time telling the world that their opponent is an idiot. Further, they are advised to focus on simple messages such as “I will cut taxes and cut ridiculous government spending” (without providing any details), or “I am strong on defense” or “I will be tough on crime” (without providing any details).
In the end, one of the candidates wins and the American citizen loses every time because our biggest challenges are rarely discussed and hardly ever addressed. As we head into the heart of the 2024 campaign, I believe that these are five of the top campaign issues that should be discussed, but likely won’t be:
- A Dysfunctional Federal Government: We have suffered through a “war” between Republicans and Democrats for the last 20 to 30 years. Because of this war, very little gets done to improve the performance of our Government. Good government matters. Among other things, the Government protects the nation, manages programs to feed over 42 million Americans who cannot feed themselves, provides Medicare and Medicaid to almost 150 million Americans, administers the public schools, takes care of 900,000 veterans, provides safety for planes in the sky, and is in charge of our national parks just to name a few. I would rate the overall performance of our Government, at best, a 2 on a scale of 1 to 5. What if our Government was a 5? What if we had the BEST Government in the world? It would have a massive impact on the lives of every American. As Citizens, we should be asking all of our candidates about their specific plans to improve the performance of the very government that they want to lead.
- Climate Change: Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres remarked, “We are on a highway to climate hell, with our foot still on the accelerator.” Americans lead the world per-capita in emitting carbon into the atmosphere. We only have one planet, and that planet today is 2 degrees warmer than it was 100 years ago. There are all sorts of peculiar – and often devastating – weather phenomena happening across the globe. I live in Wisconsin and on February 27th it was 70 degrees, and in January there was a tornado. Weird weather is happening all over the world. We should all be asking our candidates, “What is your plan to save the only Planet that we have?”
- The Threat of a Nuclear War: In January 2020, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists—whose Board of Sponsors includes 13 Nobel Prize recipients—moved the Doomsday Clock from 2 minutes to 100 seconds before midnight. This announcement marked the most severe security threat in the Doomsday Clock’s history, greater than during the Cuban Missile Crisis or at any time in the Cold War. The statement from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said, “Humanity continues to face two simultaneous existential dangers—nuclear war and climate change—that are compounded by a threat multiplier, cyber-enabled information warfare, that undercuts society’s ability to respond. The international security situation is dire, not just because these threats exist, but because world leaders have allowed the international political infrastructure for managing them to erode.” If you don’t think that the threat of nuclear war is real, then you probably did not think that a pandemic could bring the global economy to its knees. If you haven’t watched the movie Oppenheimer, you should. For the sake of our children and our grandchildren, we should all want to know where the candidates stand on the future of our nuclear arsenal, as well as what they would do to reduce the risk of a nuclear war.
- The Future of Our Health Care System: We spend almost twice as much money on health care (18.3% as measured by GDP) than any other country in the Western world, and yet are ranked 55th out of 57th as surveyed in the Bloomberg 2020 Health-Efficiency index. Over 40% of our population is obese. If you live in Italy, for example, you will live 7 years longer than if you live in the United States. Every voter in America should want to know, specifically, what plan the candidate has to bring our health care costs down and how they will improve the quality and duration of life for all Americans.
- The National Debt: We are $34 trillion in debt and there is NO national leader that has come forth with a specific plan to balance the budget. Anyone seeking the highest office in the land should be able to answer two simple questions: First, does the national debt matter? And second, if elected President, what would you specifically do to deal with our national debt?
We have many serious issues to address in our country and these are five of the biggest. Each of these problems can be solved. It won’t be easy. Strong leadership and personal sacrifice will be required. We need leaders with a sense of humility who will put the long-term best interest of the country ahead of self-interest or party. Iron will is essential. We need a plan with clear objectives, key results, and a timetable. Think of Washington, or Lincoln, or Roosevelt, or Eisenhower. These were serious leaders who cared more about the country than they did about themselves. These are serious times, and we face significant challenges. The time has come for American Citizens and the American media to demand that Candidates seeking the highest office in the land have a plan to deal with our greatest challenges.
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