How Important Is It To Be Right

 “You have to decide how important it is to be right.”

This is a famous quote from a famous daughter-in-law. It was her observation after a family gathering many years ago, and through all the years since, I have not forgotten it. Her discernment that day has proved remarkably enduring and feels especially applicable now.

I wouldn’t have dreamed that today, October 5, 2026, the importance of being right would become one of the central struggles of our American political life.

One name alone, Donald Trump has become enough to divide families, friendships, communities, and the country itself. Whatever one thinks of the man, there have been successes during his presidency worthy of acknowledgment. Yet for many Americans, giving Trump credit for anything has become impossible. You have heard the line: Trump could cure cancer and still be wrong.

That is where the question about being right becomes so important.

Opposition to Trump has become so consuming that some voters seem willing to support candidates and political ideas they once would have rejected outright, including democratic socialism and philosophies moving far beyond the traditional American political mainstream, rather than concede that Trump might have been right about anything.

Think about what that means. The determination to defeat the man can become more important than considering what the alternative may mean for the country.

I think of Norman Rockwell’s magazine covers that illustrated an American way of life: the policeman sitting at the soda counter beside a young boy, children in a classroom with their hands over their hearts saying the Pledge of Allegiance, the beautiful portraits he created of our presidents. Rockwell captured an America that, despite all its disagreements and imperfections, still recognized something larger than politics that belonged to all of us.

The midterm elections are now one place where this question must be answered. How important is it to be right? Important enough to sacrifice what we believe is best for the country?

Hate Trump if you must. Oppose him. Criticize him. Vote against him when his name is on the ballot.

But love this magnificent country more. Don’t vote it away.