Our political culture has descended darkly and been tarnished badly by this presidential election.

I attribute much of this to the Republican candidate for president. From the beginning of this campaign, Donald Trump has conjured up enemies. First it was 11 million undocumented workers in our midst. Then he turned on any trading partner of the United States. His list of enemies includes anyone who doesn't look like or talk like him.

As the former Republican governor of Massachusetts, I can testify firmly that Trump is not a good representative for the Republican Party, and would not be good for our country.

Gov. Mitt Romney, who followed me as a Republican governor of Massachusetts — and a man whom I proudly supported during his 2008 and 2012 campaigns for president — has said that he could not countenance America electing such a man.

Some months back, Gov. Romney said, "Imagine your children and your grandchildren acting the way he does. Will you welcome that? Haven't we seen before what happens when people in prominent positions fail the basic responsibility of honorable conduct? We have, and it always injures our families and our country."

During this election, I have had the privilege and honor to team up with another former Republican governor, Gary Johnson of New Mexico, and serve as his running mate in the quest for the White House.

As Gary would be the first to admit, he is not perfect, and neither am I. We've both made mistakes on the campaign trail, and have said things that have been wrongly construed by our political adversaries.

But here's what honest Gary Johnson and I have to offer the nation — and the state of Utah — that neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton nor any other candidate has to offer: Experience. Character. And a commitment to limited and constitutional government.

We believe in term limits for all federal officials, legislative as well as executive. I was elected as governor of Massachusetts in 1990. It was my first elected office, and one I arrived at after serving as the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts, and as head of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department.

I had come to the statehouse to cut government, and I did. The state payroll was grossly excessive. I furloughed 8,000 employees on my first day in office. As governor, I cut taxes 21 times. I took unemployment from the highest to the lowest among the most industrialized states. Gary did something equally remarkable out here in the West, as governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003.

Today, the Johnson/Weld ticket is the only one that stands firmly behind free trade, behind increasing immigration, behind cutting federal spending and behind decentralizing political power. Our ticket is the alternative that Americans are craving.

I'd be the first to agree that I've had concerns about the direction that some social conservatives have attempted to take the Republican Party. When I left the GOP and joined the Libertarian Party ticket, I felt liberated from having to support policies that too often became mean-spirited attacks on people's personal choices. Trump has elevated this exclusionary attitude within the Republican Party.

Despite the side-show distractions in this campaign, the issues voters care about are jobs and the economy. On this, the differences couldn't be starker between the Johnson/Weld ticket and what Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are proposing.

We have pledged to submit a balanced budget to Congress within 100 days of taking office. Our records prove we will support tax and regulatory reforms that will put Americans back to work.

We’re not going to avoid making the hard choices. Everything, including military spending and entitlement spending, will be on the table so that we as a nation can begin to live within our means.

Here’s the question that Americans need to ask themselves: If you needed someone to take care of your household while you went on a vacation, to whom would you trust that responsibility: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton or Gary Johnson and myself?

Two new polls released on Thursday show that, regretfully, Trump is leading in Utah over Clinton, ourselves, and others. And this is happening despite this state's well-documented distaste for the candidate.

Utah is better than Donald Trump. When you cast your ballot, consider what two former governors like Gary Johnson and Bill Weld have done for our states. And cast your ballot for experience that you can believe in and trust to be a good steward of our common civic values.

Bill Weld (@GovBillWeld) is the Libertarian vice presidential candidate. He was the former governor of Massachusetts. Learn more at http://johnsonweld.com.