The Red and Black

Issue date: 10/23/08 Section: Opinions

John Knox

Still not sure who you'll vote for in the national election in these crazy times?

I suggest you judge the candidates on the basis of their job descriptions. Specifically, their oaths of office.

The president is required by the Constitution to say this: "I do solemnly swear [or affirm] that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

The Vice President has a slightly different oath: "I do solemnly swear [or affirm] that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."

Reading comprehension time - our president and vice president are supposed to do what, folks? Support and defend what? The Constitution.

You'd think supporting and defending the Constitution would be fairly easy. It's pretty short, readable and broken down into digestible parts. It's just a big to-do/not-to-do list, really.

But whether you're a left-wing, right-wing, thigh or breast lover, the Bush years have been a failure in this regard.

Left-wing Congressman Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) alleges the Bush Administration violated several parts of the Constitution with a whole list of accusations - any one of which would be grounds for losing one's presidential job. You can find libertarian and even a few right-wing Web sites with similar lists of grievances.

The point is this: you can't assume that the next presidential administration will give a fig about the Constitution.

So, where do McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden stand?

Let's start with the veeps. In Sarah Palin's acceptance speech, she promised to "serve and defend America." Later, she praised John McCain and other great leaders who "serve and defend America." Catch the mistake? Palin never mentioned the Constitution in her acceptance speech.

Any two-bit nation's leader will defend its borders. By their oaths of office, American leaders also defend the Constitution, because the Constitution is what makes us uniquely American.

This crucial distinction is lost on aspiring Vice President Palin.

In their debate, Joe Biden mentioned "Constitution" or "Constitutional" six times; Palin did so only twice. But those two times were revealing.

Palin repeatedly thanked the Founding Fathers for instilling "much flexibility" in the office of the vice president. In reality, the vice president's role is defined narrowly, as Biden pointed out in rebuttal.

Palin's latest comments to a third grader confirm her view that the vice president is "in charge" of entire chunks of our government.

And what about the two at the top of the tickets? Barack Obama was a senior lecturer in Constitutional law at the University of Chicago, so you'd think the topic might come up. However, the Constitution was mentioned only in the third presidential debate.

John McCain promised "strict adherence" to the Constitution by his Supreme Court justice appointments. Obama discussed the right of privacy and the fact that rights guaranteed in the Constitution are not subject to state referenda.

I encourage you to look at the election through this lens.

You will be hired and fired on the basis of fulfilling your job descriptions, and so should our nation's leaders.

- John Knox is an assistant professor in the department of geography.

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