Hi Friend, Just when I thought our political system couldn’t become even more divided, the FBI’s search of former President Trump’s property at Mar-a-Lago has ended our week with a nation convulsed and headed towards a level of polarization that seems not just annoying but dangerous. How could it be that in a week when two bills with broad bipartisan support – on competing with China economically and protecting the health of our veterans – were signed into law at big public White House ceremonies, we could be facing another summer weekend of revenge, recrimination, and the kind of radioactive politics we are all determined to fix? It isn’t a partisan statement (just historical fact, easily and unpleasantly observed): Donald Trump’s presence on our national stage as a political figure has taken several decades of increasingly hostile partisan warfare and supercharged our environment into something never before seen in the modern history of our nation. There are many reasons for that dire reality and plenty of blame to go around. Another two historical facts: Donald Trump rose to power by highlighting the lack of trust many Americans have in some of our most vital and cherished institutions and his denigration of those same institutions has served to further undermine the faith folks have in the honesty and credibility of government organizations such as the FBI. Our core two-party agenda faces many threats and obstacles, but none greater than the lack of trust that exists between too many of our political actors and the impact that has on the trust (read: lack thereof) the people have in our government. Restoring that kind of trust and respect more broadly throughout the system and the nation – building the kind of relationships that exist among our congressional allies that have produced a bevy of pleasantly surprising bipartisan deals in the last few weeks – is a good way, I think, to frame our collective challenge. Skepticism of government is a great American tradition, and it can be healthy. But what we have now is existential, brute opposition to some of the most fundamental entities that protect us and define the contours of our grand tradition of the rule of law. We think the person elected president in 2024 is going to have to find a way to end this culture of revenge politics, a much tougher challenge after this week. Please sign our petition calling for all candidates who run for the White House to put a premium on trust and two-party solutions. And give us the name of a potential presidential candidate who you think is suited by history, inclination, and credibility with our citizenry to pull off that vital task in office. | 
