David French is an outstanding man. Not only is he a constitutional lawyer who has stood firm in defense of religious liberty, but he’s an Iraqi Freedom veteran who won the Bronze Star, is a bestselling author, has a fine Christian testimony, and has a wonderful family that includes an adopted African American daughter.
For the past week, French contemplated an independent run for the presidency simply because conservatives have no real choice in this election. Last night he announced that he would not make that run, for various reasons. I honor that decision, even as I would have honored the opposite decision by voting for him with a clear conscience.
What he left us with, though, was a thoughtful and direct statement of where we are as a nation, given that the presumptive nominees are Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. First, French explains why he even considered making the run:
I gave it serious thought–as a pretty darn obscure lawyer, writer, and veteran–only because we live in historic times. Never before have both parties failed so spectacularly, producing two dishonest, deceitful candidates who should be disqualified from running for town council, much less leader of the free world.
If Trump supporters don’t like to hear words like that, they should remember that one of the reasons they say they support Trump is because he “tells it like it is.” Well, French is much better at telling it like it is than Donald Trump.
Having provided the overall perspective on why he considered running, he then zeroed in on those two candidates, beginning with Clinton:
Hillary Clinton lies habitually and changes position on virtually every public issue except for her pro-abortion extremism, and she has a suspicious record of making public decisions that favor donors to the Clinton Foundation. Her signal foreign-policy “achievement” was helping launch a war in Libya that not only cost American lives in Benghazi but also helped transform the nation into ISIS’s latest playpen.
To add to all that, she’s in the middle of an active FBI investigation. If I had handled classified information the way we know she handled classified information, my career would already be over, and the single goal of my life would be persuading the prosecutor to reach a lenient plea bargain.
In other words, Hillary Clinton should be disqualified from the presidential ballot for things that would end other people’s careers. But, of course, she’s a Clinton, so there are different rules for her.
French then laid out some truth about the other party’s nominee:
Donald Trump also lies habitually (sometimes minute by minute), and changes position based on his moods. In one breath he claims to support working men and women, and then with the next breath he threatens to destroy our economy through trade wars or by playing games with the full faith and credit of the United States.
He believes an American judge–a man born in Indiana who spent months hiding from drug cartels after they’d put a “hit” on him–can’t rule on a case involving Trump University because the judge’s parents emigrated from Mexico.
His supporters believe it demonstrates “strength” when he mocks the disabled and bullies women. He has attracted an online racist following that viciously attacks his opponents and their families–including my wife and youngest daughter.
French then offers some hope for the future:
I believe with all my heart that there is an American movement ready to both resist the corruption, decadence, and dishonesty of the American elite and restore the promise of the American Dream. But that movement may not emerge for some time, and it might emerge only after further heartache and pain.
What this nation needs might not come to fruition immediately, but we should continue to work toward the goal of righteousness. And for those who would demean the efforts to provide an alternative to the two presumptive nominees, French adds,
Let me also say that each person involved in the effort to recruit an independent candidate is a patriot. They are standing strong on principle when the GOP leadership–in lockstep–now marches to Trump’s beat. I admired them before this process began, and I admire them more even now.
Then he takes on the Republican establishment—you know, that entity that Trump presumably abhors:
Last week, Reince Priebus said that those involved in the independent effort were “embarrassing themselves.” But what is more embarrassing? Is it doing your best to defend the nation you love from two people who are unworthy of its highest office? Or is it using your God-given gifts and talents to advance the interests of a man who cares only for himself and who rejects the very values you’ve long claimed to uphold?
He then ends with a personal word and a Reaganesque statement about America’s future:
To those who prayed for me and my family, I’m grateful beyond words. To those who defended my wife and kids from vicious attacks–engaging in a fight you didn’t seek–I’m forever in your debt. To those I’ve disappointed, I’m sorry. It is your devotion and integrity that help keep America great, and I believe you will ultimately prevail.
What a system we have that puts forward a Clinton and a Trump as our choices, but relegates principled men and women to the back burner. We only have ourselves to blame; the voters have made two utterly unqualified people the nominees for the major parties.
I’m not sure I have the same hopes French does for the eventual direction the nation will take, but I would like to think he is correct. I appreciate people like David French whose lives are built on the solid rock of faith in Christ and in the principles that flow from that faith. May that number be multiplied. That’s our only real hope.