Following Donald Trump’s acceptance of the GOP nomination, I can't help but think about what life would be like for me as a voter in an alternate universe.
One where Trump conned the Democratic Party - the party for which he was a member for most of his life - into nominating him to be their standard bearer, riding a wave of populism, railing against the establishment, based upon caricaturing the hard left's more extreme sentiments.
A campaign which would champion safe spaces, by declaring we need to "Make America a Safe Space Again." A campaign that said to anyone who made a remark that could possibly be perceived as offensive or politically incorrect "You're Fired!". A campaign that called for the banning of all culturally appropriated foods like sushi, or genetically modified foods like the seedless watermelon. A campaign that embraces the Establishment clause but rails against the Free Exercise of religious views that are at odds with what they believe. A campaign that would take on the "corrupt pharmaceutical industry" by issuing a temporary moratorium on all vaccines until we figure out what's going on.
All lead by the same man, one who is just as uniquely unqualified, who has never held elective office of any kind, who is just as thin-skinned, who lashes out and tries to silence and censor his critics, and who addresses complex issues with no in-depth policy proposals, but instead slogans and platitudes.
In such a world, someone like me, who has been a lifelong Democrat, would be faced with a similar conundrum to that which moderate Republicans face today. Faced with such a prospect, had the Republicans nominated someone like John McCain, Mitt Romney, or Jeb Bush, people with whom I differ with greatly on policy - and in the case of Bush, the next in the line of a political dynasty that is not all that dissimilar to what I'm sure Republicans feel about the Clintons - but all of whom have held elective office, who have resumes and experience that are appropriate, and who have a temperament that is not paper thin-skinned, or utterly narcissistic and sociopathic, I would be very open to the idea of voting for them, and most likely would do so.
However, if a Ted Cruz, or a Mike Huckabee, or a Rick Santorum were to be nominated, people who are so far astray from my own political beliefs, people who have spent their lives and careers vilifying and attempting to trample on the rights of minorities such as homosexuals, I just couldn't do it.
In such a scenario I would hold my nose, and try to justify it to myself by saying things like, at least Democratic Trump says he would appoint liberal justices to the Supreme Court, the leaders in the party might try to veer him in a more reasonable direction, and where they can't, hopefully the Congress would assert themselves as a check to his power.
Now, if the McCains, Romneys, or Bushs selected a more moderate pick for VP, like say Kasich, or Tom Ridge, or a Christine Todd Whitman, that would signal to me that though I still don't agree with them politically, they at least recognize the need to appeal to and hopefully govern with people like me in mind and I would cast my vote for them.
And, I would expect, that the right wing conservatives in such a scenario would decry that the GOP, by placing a center right candidate on the top and bottom of their ticket, lost an opportunity to move the country to the hard right, given such a weak candidate on the left in the form of Democratic Donald. And, make no mistake about it, those center right candidates would move the country to the right, though perhaps not as far as they would like. However, a ticket from the extreme of their party might not win the general election, while centrists might.
If they selected as their Veep, someone like the aforementioned Huckabee or worse, like Sarah Palin, or Michelle Bachmann or Herman Cain or Ben Carson, and the list goes on, in order to satiate their base and unify their party, someone like me would again gravitate towards Democratic Trump.
So, as Hillary selects her running mate, Tim Kaine, a centrist causing outrage on the left, I just hope they can put themselves in the shoes of their counterparts on the other side of the aisle and see that it's done to attempt to bridge this deep divide in our country and win swing voters who I normally believe don't exist in significant numbers, but in this rare case actually do, and is a difficult, presidential-like decision.
Would that move by a centrist Republican actually unify the country overall? No. Because, in that alternate universe, the second I pulled that lever for the moderate Republican at the top of the ticket and sane Democrats down ballot, I would begin working to help elect Democrats to Congress in two years, and a sane Democrat to the White House in 2020, just as I would do if Democratic Donald won.
But, at least if that moderate Republican won, as a place holder, for the next four years there would be a competent person at the helm, one that would not veer us off to the land of Idiocracy or potentially 1930s Germany, or I guess in that scenario, Stalinist Russia.
Some might suggest that in such an alternate universe I should just vote 3rd party. To those that would, I can understand why they would. But, I'm a realist. I know that as things stand now, we live in a two party system. There are ways to change that, and perhaps we should, but it won't happen in time for this election and it will never happen from the top. Such an effort needs to begin on a state level, in Congressional races, in state level races, and through ballot measures like the one passed in California that for offices other than the Presidency, provide that the top two vote getters in the primaries, regardless of party are placed on the ballot in the general election which is why there are two Democrats running for Senate in California. And, had the Green Party or Libertarians organized, and focused their efforts where they should have been directed, they could've had their candidates on the ballot for Senate, House and Assembly here in California. There are also a number of other ways to try to achieve proportional representation, without having to go to the great lengths of amending the Constitution, many of which can be found on FairVote.org.
But, to me, voting for a 3rd party candidate for President at this stage is saying that I'm going to let others make the decision for me. My vote is my voice, and it is my opportunity to say who, out of the viable choices represent me. And, particularly when it comes to the highest office in the land, whoever that person is, they are going to have to make tough decisions, ones where sometimes there is no good option, but a choice needs made nonetheless. And, I am fortunate to live in a country where I get to have a say in who that person should be, even if they're not my first, second, or 20th choice. My vote is my one chance to say who should make those tough choices, so I believe deeply for myself that I can no more obviate my role than can they in a representative democracy.
So, to my friends on the left and right, I know we may often disagree on issues and candidates, but this election is too important to sit on the sidelines and allow others to make those choices for us.
Now more than ever, in a time we find ourselves so divided, it is so important to try to look at things through the lens of our fellow citizens who might view things differently than us, whether it be on the election or on the many other issues facing our country. This will allow us to live in a more civil country, respecting one another's differences, rather than retreating to our ideological corners, closing ourselves off to new ideas because they are at odds with our preconceived opinions, and instead live up to the ideal of a more perfect union. That is the alternate universe I want to live in.
