No, I’m not kidding.
This is my missive to any remaining progressives who feel the need to sit this election out or vote for a third party candidate — for whatever their reasons.
I know that inspiration is very motivating. President Obama is a very motivating political figure. These are rare in our lifetime. Secretary of State Clinton is a lot of amazing things:
Her government experience and resume are — frankly — unmatched by any other presidential candidate, ever. She would make history as the first woman President of the United States, ever. She actually cares about people. So she’s not as inspiring as President Obama. That’s a charisma thing, right? You really can’t change that. Her voting record and policy record on most things — including her fight for universal healthcare coverage that started the Republican attack machine against her — is reliable left of center. There are certainly a few exceptions, but no candidate is 100% with you all of the time, right?
So that’s one side of things. You really can feel good about voting for her, even if she doesn’t make you see fireworks and hear America the Beautiful every time she speaks.
Here’s the other side:
Donald Trump is the first candidate nominated by either major party that simply cannot be President. He’s actually mentally unstable. He’s actually a bigot. He actually hates women. He’s actually a sexual predator, and he actually doesn’t honor business contracts. Oh, and he’s actually a tool of the Russian government. He’s dangerous. Just the thought of the possibility of him winning this week sent global markets diving. Think about that.
And then there are his loony followers. Emboldened by his candidacy alone they are already out there discriminating, bullying, threatening and — in some cases — acting violently. Imagine what would happen if he was actually in a position of real power!
If my cat were the Democratic nominee, I’d be telling you to vote for him. Or your cat. Or dog. Or anybody. Anybody at all.
Most of us understand that we cannot win every election. Democracy means two sides share power (it also means they work with each other on compromises, but that’s another diary).
Things look good for us — but it’s not over until Hillary gets to that 270. Any vote that doesn’t go to Hillary helps Donald Trump. Any vote. No matter who, and no matter where it goes.
Now is not the time to be selfish, or indifferent, or off the wall about your politics. I don’t care if you think you’re a socialist, you are obsessed with the Iraq War vote, or you just don’t like her. None of that matters — not this year.
There is nothing remotely similar between electing Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. I don’t give a shit about private email servers and neither should you. That’s nothing compared to the long and growing list of potential Trump misdeeds.
Every Presidential election, at least one candidate tells us that this is the most important election of our lifetime. I understand that. This year it really is.
We must stop Donald Trump or we will all pay the price. Trump says everything is a disaster. A President Trump would be a disaster and we all know it.