OPINION:
A longtime Democratic friend recently told me that he has decided not to vote for Kamala Harris in November. He is a truck driver, so gas prices and grocery bills are of great concern to him and his family. He listed many issues on which Ms. Harris’ policies are no different from President Biden’s. In fact, he mentioned many I did not even know about. My friend wants a pragmatic approach to governance, not an ideological one, and I agree with him. Wow — a Democrat and a Republican reaching a consensus. Imagine that.
My friend has grown tired of watching mainstream news networks, pundits and surrogates try to erase Ms. Harris’ past positions. According to him, the Democratic message is wholly absent of substance.
We voters must decide whether pragmatism is more important than idealism in restoring peace, prosperity and trust in our political system. The ideological approach of the left is destroying America’s independence and making us reliant on foreign goods and services for day-to-day activities. Open borders are allowing unvetted illegal immigrants to stream into our communities.
The pragmatic approach to our problems includes increasing domestic oil production and stopping illegal border crossings by ending government freebies and other incentives and restoring earlier border controls. The Democratic policies of the past four years hold none of the architects accountable for the destruction they’ve caused. Instead, the left blames Donald Trump and conservatives for all that ails us. But as my mom used to say, If you point at anyone, you have three fingers pointing back at you.
The Democrats have badly miscalculated the impact of their policies on voters, and I am sure many would agree that it will take practical approaches to reverse the effects of their many damaging policies. I believe in pragmatism over idealism, which means I deal with issues sensibly and realistically.
GREG RALEIGH
Washington
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