Editor: Major topics of discussion in the 2020 election include the building a stronger economy, racial equity, expanding health care, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. All of these topics are made more pressing, however, by the division of our political culture. We need to bring Americans back together.
Partisanship is high. We disagree on a lot. Joe Biden said at his recent speech at Gettysburg, “Competing viewpoints give life and vibrancy to our democracy.”, but too much division can pull us too far apart. We should be able to work together, with respect, on issues of common-ground. “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” – and the house stands divided today.
Biden chose the sacred ground of Gettysburg to speak about America’s need to unify. “We have too bright a future,” he said, “to have it shipwrecked on the shoals of anger and hate and division.” The former Vice President spoke of trust and hope, and called on Americans to revive “…a spirit of being able to work with one another…” He said we can no longer be a house divided, “We’re facing too many crises. We have too much work to do.”
Lyndon Baines Johnson also visited the battlefield at Gettysburg in 1963 and said, “Our nation found its soul in honor on these fields of Gettysburg one hundred years ago. We must not lose that soul in dishonor now on the fields of hate.” We are at a crossroads in the year 2020. We can choose to work together again to build a better economy for working class and middle class people, create a fairer and more equitable nation of laws for people of all colors and creeds, expand affordable and quality health care, and eliminate the threat that COVID-19 poses to our communities to keep ourselves and our families safe.
We may choose to remain divided as the house falls around us or we can choose to stand united with courage in the face of significant challenge. Let’s choose a better path in this election.
— Erik Clarke, via letters@sentinelcolorado.com