<p>Dear Vice-President Pence,</p><p>I am writing to you as one Hoosier to another, one who is alarmed at a development in the past weeks. When President Trump first stated in an interview on Fox News that he wouldn’t pledge to leave the office of president if he is defeated in November, I tried to dismiss the remark as yet another “off the cuff” comment that he didn’t mean.</p><p>However, when he repeated the same threat in his acceptance speech, my blood ran cold. Certainly, neither you nor I have ever heard such words from a president in our lifetimes. I think it possible that no U.S. president has ever made such a threat.</p><p>Perhaps you have heard Trump make this same threat in private. I ask you as someone who believes in democracy to take this statement not as an idle joke but seriously for what it is — an unconstitutional and immoral threat to the American way of life.</p><p>One of the characteristics of American democracy, sometimes referred to as a miracle, is the peaceful transfer of power. Without violence and bloodshed, outgoing presidents turn the keys to the government over to the incumbent. To threaten not to do so is the clearest proof of a person being unpatriotic. No amount of flags waving in the background can offset the magnitude and danger of such words.</p><p>Certainly, a part of you must cringe when you’ve heard Trump’s repeated threat. Such a statement can only come from someone who was raised without hearing the word “no.” We know that children who haven’t heard and accepted the word “no” become unreliable and narcissistic adults.</p><p>But democracy is both a “yes” and “no” form of government. By definition, democracy is the rule of the people. The people decide between two candidates running for the office of president. The winner hears a “yes,” and the loser hears a “no.”</p><p>The president’s threat uses words we’d expect to hear from Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-Un, or Narendra Modi of India — all leaders that Trump claims to respect. But these men are hardly models of who we want to lead our country.</p><p>Both Richard Nixon in 1960 and Al Gore in 2000 did the honorable thing by accepting “no” even in elections that were hotly contested. They didn’t accept that “no” because they thought their opponent was more suited for the office, but because they understood the importance of the peaceful transfer of power.</p><p>Trump might claim this threat is just a joke, but his most rabid followers won’t likely take it that way. Because of that, his words threaten the peace of our country. The threat is planting the seeds of further division and violence.</p><p>I assume that you and other Trump supporters believe this threat — this joke — is moot if Trump is legitimately reelected in November. Perhaps you believe Trump only repeats this threat to increase support, but isn’t it more likely that he is achieving the opposite? Aren’t Americans realizing that Trump’s threat proves he is more interested in himself than in democracy?</p><p>I ask you, Mr. Vice President, to walk into the oval office and say that all-important word in our democracy — “no.” No, Mr. President, you will not remain in office if we lose in November. No, Mr. President, you are not above the law. No, Mr. President, I will not accept interference from foreign governments in our election process. No, Mr. President, I will not support weakening the postal service to deny the right of citizens, especially in this pandemic, to vote by mail.</p><p>And if the president does not accept your patriotic “no,” Mr. Vice President, I ask you to utter one more “no.” No, Mr. President, I will not be your running mate.</p>
