As election time looms ever nearer, it is utterly bewildering to me to behold the superficial criteria many, even many who call themselves Christians, use to determine their vote. We have thus far in these Election 2020 Papers covered The First Term Accomplishments Of President Trump and A Review Of The Anarchist Violence Plaguing The Cities Of America. In this paper it is my desire to help people distinguish between polish and policy, and direct their votes away from the former to the latter.

One of the phrases I hear bandied about with increasing regularity these days is “Donald Trump is not Presidential,” or the counterpart, “Joe Biden is more Presidential.” But what exactly does that mean? One might as well say “So and so is not acting rutabagal.” And, since no one exactly knows how a rutabaga is supposed to behave as opposed to a cucumber or a turnip, anyone’s opinion on that is about as good as anyone else’s.

The office of the President is not described in the Bible, nor is “presidential” a description one can find in the Constitution. “Presidential” is merely an opinion piece, a fuzzy notion of the veneer that one should portray to make people feel comfortable. And this, in and of itself, is part of the systemic problem in how politics works in our day. It was bad enough in the days when there were only newspapers, but now that there is radio, television, a 24/7 cable news cycle, the internet, social media, and viral videos, substance has taken a seat on the very back of the vanity bus, and every seat ahead of it is filled with the preening pomposity of polish.

Christians are all too often guilty of valuing polish over policy. Policy is boring, takes a lot of reading to wade through, and doesn’t make for good social media memes. Polish, though, is popular, easy to digest, and, most importantly to “woke” Christendom, “feels good.” They gasp in horror at the thought of voting for a “mean person” for president, and then simply glow at the thought of voting for a “nice person” whose policies would make the devil himself stand and applaud.

Barak Obama was considered “presidential.” So were both Bushes, and even failed candidates like Mitt Romney and John McCain. By “presidential,” those using that phrase, whether they could articulate it or not, meant “acting in a soothing, professional manner.”

But do you realize who, therefore, would have been the most “presidential figure” of all history? Here is your clue:

2 Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Can’t you hear him as he, in his most earnest tone, looked Eve in the eyes and said, “Ye shall not surely die…”

His polish was fabulous. His policy was fatal.

Judas had, by far, the most “polish” of all of the apostles. His “monetary policy,” though, was, to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.

Thomas Sowell, in his book “Dismantling America,” said this about Barak Obama. “The really painful surprise is that so many people based their hopes on his words, rather than on the record of his deeds. What that means is that, even if we somehow manage to survive this man’s reckless economic policies at home and his potentially fatal foreign policy actions and inactions, the gullibility and fecklessness of those voters who put him in the White House will still be there to be exploited by the next master of glib demagoguery and emotional images, who can lead us into another vortex of dangers, from which there is no guarantee that we will emerge as a free people or even as a viable society.”

Glib demagoguery and emotional images. In other words, “he was presidential.” As is Joe Biden, if all it takes to be presidential is the ability to “make people feel good.”

Neville Chamberlain was “presidential” with his policy of appeasement and his signing of the Munich Agreement. Hitler loved him for that; his appeasement gave the Fuhrer extra time and room to prepare for his conquest of the world. It took the decidedly “non-presidential” Winston Churchill, a brawler with an acerbic wit and an iron resolve, to save his country and the world from Nazi domination.

Donald Trump is not soothing. He is not an orator. In fact, he is often brash and profane. And it is on that, the most inconsequential of things currently on the table, that many Christians have determined either not to vote, or far worse, to vote for Joe Biden.

Please hear me out. Adolph Hitler was one of the smoothest, most polished leaders earth has ever known. Even if you do not understand German, pull up audio of some of his speeches. He began low and soothing, melodically drawing his listeners in, and then by the end had reached such a crescendo that everyone was wildly cheering. Polish? Oh yes, he was utterly polished. And yet his policy slaughtered six million Jews. Do we look back at the Germans who put him into office and applaud them for “having the character to vote for such a presidential figure?” Certainly not; we castigate them for ignoring his easy to ascertain, homicidal, genocidal policies.

Let me tell you what should not register much at all with any of us this election cycle: tweets, barbs, or “orange skin.” What should register with all of us, what should, in fact, make our election choices for us, is policy. In policy, President Trump has been unabashedly pro-life, pro-second amendment, kind to churches and Christians, pro-free markets, pro-America, pro-law enforcement, pro-military, pro-Israel, pro-controlling our borders, pro-constitutionalist judges, and anti-overreaching government. His policies have led to churches being able to exist without fear of federal agencies capriciously try to shut them down. His policies have led to a strengthened military, economic prosperity, pro-life gains, solid judicial appointments, a fantastic job market, more educational opportunities for Christian, home, and private schools. His policies have led to multiple peace treaties being signed across the Middle East, when the effete, pompous, condescending John Kerry proclaimed it to be impossible, and so much more.

Does anyone remember all of the “czars” from the Obama/Biden administration, those unelected men simply appointed by word of a president and given nearly limitless power over our lives, with no constitutional right for said “czars” to even be a thing? That was policy; horrible policy.

Does anyone remember the IRS/Lois Lerner scandal from the Obama/Biden administration, where the near omnipotent power of the IRS was used as a weapon against Christians? That was policy; horrible policy.

Does anyone remember the transgender bathroom battles from the Obama/Biden administration, where teenage school girls were having to fight the federal government in court to keep naked biological males out of their dressing rooms? That was policy; horrible policy.

Joe Biden has had forty-seven years of policy. His “polish” was always good, except for his gaffes, gropes, and sniffing fetish, but his policy has always been disastrous. He has voted to tax, and subsequently increase taxes on social security, when prior to 1983 they were not taxable at all. He helped to write the disastrous 1994 crime bill. He has supported nearly every radical abortion policy ever created. He voted for NAFTA, which gutted American manufacturing capability. He has vowed to put Beto “H- – – yes we are going to come and take your AR-15″ o’Rourke in charge of gun policy in America. He openly calls himself “the most progressive Democrat in the field,” and has called for “directing funds away from the police.”

There is simply no sensible universe in which the policy of Joe Biden versus the policy of Donald Trump should take a backseat to the polish of Joe Biden versus the polish of Donald Trump.

If both of those men held the exact same policies, I would vote for Joe Biden because, at that point, considering “polish” would be a luxury I actually had.

But they do not, and it is not.

I intend to vote for Donald Trump this November. In fact, I intend to vote a straight Republican ticket. And I will not be “holding my nose” to do so as I did in 2016. I now have four years of proof that Donald Trump’s policies are better by a longshot than Joe Biden’s and the democrats.

Being concerned with polish at such a time as this would be like living in Pompei in A.D. 79 in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, and clutching the pearls while the mountain started to rumble. It may make you feel good for a brief moment, but future generations will be looking at your encased body and asking “what were they thinking?”
*******************************************************************************************************
Pastor Wagner can be contacted by email at 2knowhim@cbc-web.org. Check out our books by clicking the “Store” link above.