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President’s Podium John C. Buchanan
A closing argument for a case with long term consequences
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fair, equitable, and just society.
Those will be among the essential elements at stake this fall when American voters cast their ballots in the November 5 U.S. presidential election. The 2024 campaign, it would be safe to say, has been unlike any other. It has been marked by such headline-grabbing events in the last few months as multiple assassination attempts, a surprise decision by the incumbent to withdraw from the race for the White House, and the unexpected candidacy of the first woman of color to be a presidential nominee. And with a month to go before the final votes are tallied in this election, it seems certain that more campaign surprises and revelations are bound to come beyond the
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baseless claims that immigrants in a small Ohio town are eating their neighbor’s cats and dogs.
the importance of sustaining our constitutional democracy and the rule of law.
Yet, despite the prospect of any bombshells being lobbed on election eve, the candidates have drawn clear lines of demarcation as to where they stand on such key issues as immigration, reproductive rights, climate change, gun control, economic regulations, and the future of democracy and the rule of law. More about all that later.
“Today, our nation and world are at an inflection point,” then-ABA President Mary Smith said. “At home and around the globe, autocrats and dictators threaten the rule of law. Our democracy is under strain. A fundamental cause of this crisis lies in the fact that many of our citizens are not educated on the rule of law and the basic principles of our democratic republic.”
In recent months, as the campaign rhetoric has heated up, leaders from the American Bar Association (ABA) decided it was time to make their feelings known about the last two issues in particular, unveiling a letter signed by more than 100 deans from America’s law schools underscoring
T H E P R I M E R U S P A R A D I G M™
The message delivered by the ABA Task Force for American Democracy highlighted the need for political civility, to disagree respectfully, to be open to opposing arguments, and to engage across partisan and ideological divides.