By Ray Cardello for May 21, 2023, Season 19 / Post 36

There is no shortage of issues to be confronted by candidates on both sides of the divide in 2024. We have lost our sovereignty and a Border that no longer exists on our Southern flank. We have a weakened military that is more concerned with its WOKE image than its readiness to face China or Russia. Our education system is an indoctrination tool of the Left that has given up on reading and math. Our out-of-control national debt now costs more to service the interest than we spend on defense. A crime and drug epidemic is turning some of our finer big cities into campgrounds and meth labs. But these major concerns must step aside to make way for the issues that will win the day in 2024. I believe the most critical election of our lifetime will be won on two issues; reparations and abortion.

I despise the “most critical” moniker, as every election is pivotal to our future, but the 2024 election is different. America is on the precipice with Republicans trying desperately to cling to our Constitution and the great experiment started by our forefathers. The Democrats are hell-bent on erasing our forefathers from history, tearing up the Constitution, and replacing it with paperback editions of Mein Kampf. That is not hyperbole. Every pole taken in the last two years bears out my statement. Our great country is on a path to Socialism even if those driving the bus do not understand Socialism.

The 2024 election will be won with independents and specific groups like Blacks and Women. The Democrats own the two issues that are front and center with both, which is the challenge for Republicans-develop a policy that will split this vote. The country is so divided philosophically that you will not be able to swing voters from either side.

Abortion: the Right has to move towards the Center. This will not be palatable for those of us who are genuinely Pro-Life, but we also have to be realistic that we will never abolish abortion entirely. We cannot criminalize every abortion, especially early term. The trick is finding a compromise that will satisfy both sides. The six-week timeframe pushed by many Conservatives is not the spot and not even a good starting place.

Reparations: the concept of Reparations is a scam. It is a ploy to garner votes, just like the Student Loan Forgiveness Act. It was never meant to become a reality. It was an empty promise to get the Youth Vote, and it worked. Reparations is a divisive issue that promises a financial windfall for one side and is repugnant to the other. My ancestors came from Europe and were hard-working people who never enslaved people and, in some cases, may have been enslaved themselves. They came to America and worked in sweatshops at the start of the twentieth century. This was fifty years after the Civil War. Why should anyone under my family tree pay anything as a penalty to descendants of Blacks enslaved two centuries ago? They shouldn’t, and I will not. We have to stay out of the debate on Reparations and key on the fact it is a scam created by the Democrats.

Every opportunity has to be shooting holes in the reparations charade. It is the most critical, and we must be different Republicans than in the past. We must be willing to take the gloves off and beat the Dems on their level. We can stay true, but we may have to hit low!