Not the First Time the Democrats Tried it

Donald Trump is, to many, the most controversial president in modern history. Historically, however, there was a president even more controversial. So controversial, in fact, that many states left him off of the ballot.

Current Ballot Controversy – California 2020 Ballot

Presidential candidate Donald Trump came along at a time when our nation was in a state of tension and decline. His mission to Make America Great Again (MAGA) offered a fresh start to many who were looking for new political ground. The past 10 years of failed liberal and neoconservative policies had caused some to wonder if there was a chance for America to rebound.

The Republican Party, though it has had its fair share of mistakes and mishaps, has always platformed itself as the “Party of Redemption.” Democrats from Andrew Jackson to the present have sought to progress beyond the American founding. Thirty-five years before Trump would assume the MAGA mantle, Ronald Reagan adopted it for his 1980 platform. Reagan would, in turn, restore economic prosperity and patriotism in the hearts of many Americans. Reagan went through much Democrat opposition. He even faced off with those in his own party – establishment Republicans. Trump has restored a sense of American greatness that seemed to be in a decline during the Obama years. Unfortunately, the Democrat machine continues its relentless obstruction escapade. It’s latest shameful act is California seeking to keep Trump off of the 2020 ballot.

Donald Trump is no Abraham Lincoln.

Their method? Through a 27-10 vote, if Trump does not release his tax returns, California Democrats will attempt to keep his name off the ballot. Not only would that be unconstitutional, but showing one’s tax returns is not a presidential requirement. One cannot say they believe in a free and fair election if they leave a candidate off the ballot.

A House Divided Will Not Stand

Long before Reagan and Trump, another president had the task of redeeming America. This was, in fact, our first Republican president. And the political climate was much worse in 1860 than it was in 1980 or 2016. Like Trump, Abraham Lincoln was not expected by some to become the Republican nominee. According to Ain’t You Glad You Joined the Republicans?”: A Short History of the GOP by John Calvin Bachelor, many thought it would have been William Seward.

Through a miracle, Lincoln became the nominee. Although Lincoln believed he had no constitutional authority to interfere with slavery where it existed, he asked that it be prohibited from expanding westward. Through this, he was upholding the wishes of the founding fathers, who outlawed slavery in the Northwest Territory, through the Ordinance of 1787. Southern Democrats were furious at Lincoln’s election. They viewed his election as putting slavery on the course of extinction.

Just a couple of years earlier, Lincoln delivered the “House Divided” speech. During this, he commented that he did not believe the government could “endure both half-slave and half-free,” and the union would cease to be divided. In most southern states, Lincoln was not included on the ballot. The state of South Carolina, in its secession declaration, acknowledged Lincoln’s House Divided speech. They refuted him for claiming that the union must become “all one or all the other.” Through reasons such as this, we understand why the Democrat-dominated South was hostile to the Republican Party.

Democrats Excluding Republicans from Ballot Similarities

Donald Trump is no Abraham Lincoln. I want to make that perfectly clear. I am in no way declaring such a thing. In examining history, however, there are certainly similar events that tie together. The Democrat Party wanting to exclude a Republican presidential candidate from the ballot has been seen before in American history.

This time, it is the Republican GOP President Donald Trump for the 2020 ballot in California. History repeats itself. Anyone supporting such an action, cannot claim to believe in a free and fair election.