ואל פרעה מלך מצרים. צִוָּם עָלָיו לַחֲלֹק לוֹ כָבוֹד בְּדִבְרֵיהֶם, זֶה מִדְרָשׁוֹ (שם); וּפְשׁוּטוֹ, צִוָּם עַל דְּבַר יִשְׂרָאֵל וְעַל שְׁלִיחוּתוֹ אֶל פַּרְעֹה...
ואל פרעה מלך מצרים signifies that He charged them with regard to PHARAOH, KING OF EGYPT, viz., that they should show respect to him in all that they spoke. This is a Midrashic explanation (Exodus Rabbah 7:3; Midrash Tanchuma, Vaera 2); but the real meaning is: He gave them a command with regard to Israel and with regard to His mission on which he had sent them to Pharaoh...
ויצום אל בני ישראל ... פי' רי"ע ויצום כלומר שנתן חנם וכבודם ומוראם בעיני ישראל ובעיני פרעה באופן שיקובלו דבריהם בכל מה שיצטרך להוציא את בני ישראל ממצרים... כי כל מה שיקבע השם בלב כל פועל מדבר ובלתי מדבר או בטבע כל נמצא, הוא צוויו ומאמר :
Rabbi Yitzhak Arama understood "and he commanded them" to mean that he placed their grace and honor and awe in the eyes of Israel and in the eyes of Pharaoh in a way that their words would be received as much as was needed to remove the Israelites from Egypt...And everything that Hashem sets in the heart of any creation, whether it speaks or does not speak or is in nature or anywhere in existence, is God's "command" and "God's word."
No candidate or party represents Torah values. Neither the Republican nor the Democratic platform is Torah. (And this is beside the fact that their political “ideologies” are shifting sand.) A Torah Yid has no business identifying with either party.
Klal Yisrael has many needs and sensitivities. We weigh the different options and vote for a candidate or party based on what is important to us. We engage in political barter: a vote from the community in return for advancing values important to us and allocating vital resources. We are courteous and respectful to all, but we do not identify emotionally with any candidate or party. In fact, emotional enthusiasm for a candidate or a party is an “aish zarah”!
It should be pointed out that many American Jews did not want to protest against the Vietnam War, fearing that this might weaken support for the State of Israel, but Rabbi Aharon Soloveichik inveighed against this policy. He called attention to the fact that the prophet Jonah was severely rebuked for refusing to preach to the people of Nineveh for fear that the success of his mission would result in embarrassing the Jewish people. Similarly, he felt that those who considered the Vietnam War to be unjust had an obligation to speak out, even at the risk of antagonizing the American administration.
Torah Umadda is a process rather than an ideology. It is the ongoing dialogue in which Jews reflect on the meeting between Torah, experienced as timeless command, and the time-and-place-specific culture in which they have been set. That meeting has usually enriched both sides. Jews have taken and have given in return.