Letter: Experience matters

Published: 11-01-2024 1:55 PM

Modified: 11-08-2024 11:50 AM

Not much has been said about how important elected government experience is in making a president. Well-run governments depend on sound, experienced management skills and the ability to communicate and compromise in order to solve complex problems.

One candidate has just four years of chaotic government experience. Donald Trump was the first president to have no previous elected government or military experience. He is now the oldest person to run for president and the first convicted felon to run with a major party. He instigated "the big lie" and the Jan. 6 insurrection to illegally remain in power.

Trump's vice presidential candidate has only 1 1/2 years of elected government experience and is the least-qualified vice presidential candidate ever. J.D. Vance's racist lies against legal Haitian immigrants of Springfield, Ohio, show his determination to divide this country further with fear and hate.

In contrast, Kamala Harris has 20 years and Tim Walz 17 years of elected government experience. They know how to manage government and solve problems through consensus. They believe in democracy, the right to vote, the rule of law and the right to choose.

Harris recently said, "The president of the United States must not look at our country through the narrow lens of ideology or petty partisanship or self-interest. Our nation is not some spoil to be won. The United States of America ... inspired the world to believe in the possibility of representative government. And so in the face of those who would endanger our magnificent experiment, people of every party must stand together."

Trump has said that he will be a dictator on day one.

In this supremely important election, we must put patriotism ahead of policy, love of country above party and reject the vindictive chaos of Trump.

Scott Cunningham

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