To the editor: Jonah Goldberg makes a lot of good points in his column on presidential “mandates,” but he leaves out the most important one.
The next president will once again be elected by the slimmest of margins, meaning that half of the nation’s electorate will not support his or her platform. Now more than ever, our government needs to acknowledge the polarized nature of its citizenry and work toward compromise on all issues, driven by its constitutional directive to serve all Americans.
The political whiplash that results from continued assumed mandates will only hasten the downfall of this country.
R. C. Price, San Clemente
..
To the editor: Goldberg writes, “The person the voters decide to hire will have only one real mandate: to do the job delineated by the Constitution.”
He could have mentioned that one of our major candidates has called for the termination of that same Constitution, incited an insurrection, was nominated after inciting that insurrection (in violation of the Constitution) and refused to defend the Constitution as required by his oath of office.
What Goldberg regards as a mandate, the GOP regards as only a personal political attack on Trump that must be scorned and pushed aside. Patriots indeed.
Eric Carey, Arlington, Va.
