Opinion: This presidential election is not about party or even policy — it’s about upholding the Constitution

Last week as I was running errands, I caught a segment of a talk radio show. The host and his guest were having a conversation about the importance of voting and the need to understand and respect those who think differently than we do. I found myself enthusiastically nodding in agreement. A person isn’t “bad” or even “misguided” if they happen to have different views on, say, economic policy, immigration reform or women’s reproductive rights. There are reasonable arguments to be made on all sides of such issues. There are legitimate conservative positions and legitimate progressive positions — and our right as U.S. citizens to choose to support those positions (and those candidates) that most closely align with our own values is one of the most fundamental and cherished aspects of our constitutional republic.
Before 2016, no matter who won the presidency, whether my guy or the other, I knew we’d be OK (although, admittedly, in some cases I took a deep breath and thought, “OK, well, thank goodness for checks and balances and term limits!”).
But then came former President Donald Trump. With the arrival of Trump in the political arena, it was suddenly no longer about competing but valid points of view. It was no longer about Republicans vs. Democrats or conservatives vs. liberals. It wasn’t even about which side won and which lost, because, in truth, we all lost in 2016. In 2016, we elected a man as president of the United States who was completely and frighteningly unfit for the office — a man whose character, temperament and disregard for our Constitution and for basic human decency utterly disqualified him from holding any public office, let alone the highest office in the land.
And now, we may be about to do it again, heaven forfend.
Friends, listen.
This is a man who was convicted by a jury of 34 felony counts.
This is a man who was found liable for sexual abuse in a civil trial (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If you minimize sexual abuse, you minimize women. Period.)
This is a man who tried to overthrow a free and fair election. His own vice president said: “I think it’s important that the American people know what happened in the days before Jan. 6. President Trump demanded that I use my authority as vice president presiding over the count of the Electoral College to essentially overturn the election by returning or literally rejecting votes. I had no authority to do that.”
This is a man who tweeted that “a Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
What? This is a man who clearly has zero regard for the Constitution of the United States. And yet many principled conservatives are planning to vote for him.
What has happened to us as a nation? Ten years ago, it would have been unthinkable that we would vote for such a person to be our president. Have we truly become impervious to outright depravity? Are we so numbed by the constant onslaught of fabrications and brutish behavior that we fail to register how completely unacceptable it all is?
Too many conservatives are willing to put on their moral blinders because they think Trump will champion the policies they support. He won’t, unless it serves him. Yes, he is willing to tell conservatives what we want to hear. For a price. And that price is our vote. And, ultimately, that price may very well be the end of our democracy as we know it. Are we truly willing to sell our glorious constitutional birthright for a mess of pottage?
The MAGA movement is not conservatism. Genuine conservative values include a deep respect for democratic institutions and ideals; an unwavering commitment to the rule of law and to the processes and systems enshrined in the Constitution; and an abiding appreciation of the limits and the checks and balances of political power. Genuine conservatives place high priority on social stability, national security and preserving the integrity of our elections. Genuine conservatives believe in an enduring moral order and the need for stable, virtuous leaders.
It should go without saying that the one nonnegotiable in our president must be absolute loyalty to the Constitution. In fact, the oath of office requires a president to “preserve, protect, and defend” the Constitution. As Trump’s own vice president put it: “No one who ever puts himself over the Constitution should ever be president of the United States.”
There can be no equivocating here. Donald Trump is wholly unfit for office. It’s telling that the loudest voices of warning against a second Trump term are coming from the very people who worked most closely with him — his own attorney general, chief of staff, national security advisers and vice president. We must listen.
On the last day of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Elizabeth Willing Powel asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” His reply: “A republic, if you can keep it.”
May God bless us all in our efforts to keep our republic.
Sharlee Mullins Glenn is an advocate, community organizer and engaged citizen. She sits on several boards and volunteers for a number of humanitarian organizations. She currently serves as a Republican state delegate in Utah.