Another post on the election would almost seem to be cruel.  Aren’t we all exhausted by the rhetoric over the past two (yes, two) years?  But there is something we still need to bear in mind as we go to the polls.  I was reminded of this by an article today by Yuval Levin (http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/441149/protest-vote-congress-yuval-levin) in which he made the point that many of us still have an opportunity to vote for our House and Senate representatives.  We need a conservative Congress to check the possible or real attacks on the Constitutional system (as if it has not already been attacked) by either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.  I will say too that Clinton appears to be the much larger threat to constitutionalism than Trump, a conclusion I could see in her answer at the last debate to the question about Supreme Court justices.  Trump is not as likely to attack constitutional principles directly, though he could fall into such actions.  

When our Constitution was framed, it was designed very explicitly to constrain power of the national government generally (while granting it power it needed).  It was also designed to divide the power held by any single branch by giving different powers to each and then giving each the capacity to check the others (vetoes, etc.).  With those checks, not merely separated powers, a president can be prevented from using his powers of executive orders and over administrative agencies.  If we retain a Republican Congress–and that Congress begins to get some backbone–it can do much from preventing a Clinton administration or a Trump administration from undermining the Constitution.

This is all to the good, though it may look like “gridlock.”  Gridlock is actually good in many instances.  This might well be one of those cases.  So one ought to do one’s duty at least in this respect and vote this election.  That is, even if you don’t vote for a presidential candidate, vote down the ballot.  Don’t stay home.