‘The ghost’ writes a new speech

I am a ghost. Over many years I have written dozens of speeches for leaders in business and finance, labor unions and politics. I have been the ghost of choice at some time in their careers, for four Democrats who ran for president and lost. I was paid pretty well for the service. Now, I would like to do a speech for free, although my intended orator has not asked for a speech and would probably ask me, instead, to get lost. Here it is, anyway.

“Good morning. I am Elizabeth Lynne Cheney, although you can call me Liz. I am here today for two reasons. First, I am announcing that I am a candidate for the Republican nomination for president of the United States. Second, I do this because the party I love and my family has served is under attack, not just by Democrats, but by self-styled, but phony, Republicans as well.

“Donald Trump and his followers, often blinded by the truth, do not represent the Grand Old Party we cherish. They do not reflect the party of Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and H.W, or even a flawed Richard Nixon. There is decency in conservatives. There is honesty. There is respect for the distinctive nature of our democracy.

“I am running because there is a Democrat in the White House for whom I did not vote, but who won the presidency legitimately. I am determined that he be a one-term president followed by a legitimate Republican. He is not the strongest Democratic candidate in my lifetime, but he should not be beaten by a forked tongue and a devil’s tail described as a human being. A seriously flawed pseudo-Republican is no better than an honorable Democrat. Donald Trump could once again host a TV show: ‘Let’s Pretend.’

“Donald Trump’s record is clear. The one consistent part of his character is that it is flawed: ego driven, uninformed, vindictive, a destroyer, not a builder. Look at his record.

“His encouragement of those who desecrated our Capitol and threatened members of Congress may not be quite treasonous, but it is not American either. His declaration that he would pardon anyone found guilty in that disgraceful frenzy violates our judicial process. His buddy-buddy embrace of Vladimir Putin who now threatens the West as he threatens Ukraine is mind-boggling and disgraceful. No Republican candidate, indeed, no presidential candidate of either party, should find that truth elusive.

“Donald Trump is not a Republican. He is barely an American, in spirit, goals, or sense of service. If he must run for president, let him run on the Charlatan Party ticket.

“I say to Trump voters of 2020, come home. We can do better. We can win with honor, with vision, with allegiance to our Republican traditions and accomplishments.

“I ask my fellow Republicans who are on the ballot this election to stand tall, stand strong and to put country before career. We can win together in the tradition of those presidents’ I saluted. We can win with integrity, a vision of a better and stronger America. I think we will win without fraud, and with their blessing.

“I hope you will help me be the candidate of a once again Grand Old Party.”

Norman Sherman of Coralville has worked extensively in politics, including as Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s press secretary.