One of the best parts about traveling the nation is how many insights others share with me everywhere I go.
So many good ideas. So many best practices. So many fresh observations. Together, these conversations fuel so much of my own thinking and energy to keep pushing forward.
Along those lines, two weeks ago in Florida, my host, Bob Gary (also an Ohioan), told me he wanted to send me a list he had been working on.
“A list of what?” I asked.
“The freedoms we will lose if Trump becomes President,” he said. “All Americans should ask themselves, ‘which freedoms from this list am I willing to give up?’
To which I immediately responded: “That’s brilliant…Send me the list.”
And over night, he sent one very scary and long list.
The next morning, I woke up, read Bob’s list, and he and I talked for a good hour before the luncheon where I gave remarks.
And the conclusion I came to as I reviewed his list and over that hour was what I present in the video above.
First, that not only is Bob’s question the right question — what freedoms are we individually and collectively willing to lose if Trump win?
(My defiant answer is: NONE).
But second, the question Bob asks actually re-frames the entire Presidential election in a crucial way.
Yes, 2024 pits Trump vs. Biden. Those are the two opponents facing off. And many of us believe Biden has a lot to offer as he vies for a second term.
But more fundamentally, the election is about Trump vs. YOU, and YOUR freedom. And all the freedoms you/we will lose if he wins.
It’s that stark, as Trump made even more clear Saturday in Ohio with his unhinged and violent rhetoric.
And as Bob suggested by putting together a long list (I put together my own shortened version above), Trump has made painfully clear—through such increasingly disturbing words, through his past actions, and that his allies have put together in their ominous 2025 plan (more on it here)—just how many basic freedoms and fundamental American principles he would eviscerate as President.
So…the next time someone says to you they’re not sure what to do in the election because they’re not sold on Joe Biden, remind them:
This election is fundamentally about Trump vs. THEM (tell them, “YOU”), and their/“YOUR” FREEDOM;
And when they ask you what you mean, walk through all the freedoms they risk losing under a second Trump term (make your own list, just like Bob and I did);
Then ask them, as Bob does, which of those freedoms they’re willing to lose.
For most people, that question will answer itself.
(Thank you, Bob, for sharing your list).
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