So you don’t have warm and fuzzy feelings toward Hillary Clinton and you think Donald Trump is nuts. Well you are not alone but you still have an obligation to America and those you love. This frustration with the 2016 presidential candidates crosses generational lines but is most prevalent among younger votes including those eligible to vote for the presidency for the first time.
I knew going into yesterday morning that it was going to be somewhat other than routine personally. My wife and I had been drafted into our favorite role of grandparents’ duty and the task was going to start in the morning. I wasn’t willing to make the effort of getting up extra early to read the New York Times and the Washington Post before we took off; there would be plenty of time later in the day for that. I did however make a special effort to read Paul Krugman’s op-ed in the Times and it was great! Dr. Krugman addressed the importance of voting for a candidate you might not love (Hillary) in order to defeat a candidate you fear (Trump) and why a third Party protest vote was dangerous in his op-Ed entitled Vote as if it Matters. His conclusion was that it does!
Either Clinton or Trump will be the next President of the United States; that much I can predict with absolute certainty! No third party candidate has even a remote chance of winning. If that were ever in doubt, (and it wasn’t), it was guaranteed when neither Libertarian Gary Johnson nor Green Dr. Jill Stein qualified for the Presidential Debates. They lack support, name recognition, campaign infrastructure and finances. While neither can possibly win any of the 51 individual contests they could take enough votes away from Clinton to possibly let Trump squeak in a victory someplace. Not that likely but altogether possible.
Some may choose to call it a lesser of two evils situation; I certainly won’t go nearly that far. I think Hillary Clinton will be at least a good President; if we are lucky a great one. While resumes aren’t everything, she has the best of any presidential candidate since John Quincy Adams. The prospect of Donald Trump becoming President is terrifying and must be avoided!
If you are considering voting for Johnson or Stein you need to ask yourself two questions: Who would you vote for in a two way Clinton-Trump race and what do you really know about your third party choice’s platform.
If in the Clinton-Trump scenario you choose Clinton (which younger voters do by a wide margin) I already made my case. For a pretty good nickel tour of Johnson’s platform I besiege you to read Dr. Krugman’s op-ed. Let me just say that I can’t see how a Bernie Sanders supporter (which many young voters were) could possibly agree with most of Johnson’s beliefs. On my recent trip to Florida a close friend told me that there is an old joke that a Libertarian is just a Republican who wants to smoke dope. Remember the Koch brothers consider themselves to be Libertarians at heart.
While Stein is great on the environment (after all she is the Green Party nominee), much of her other proposals are long on rhetoric but totally unrealistic as to how they would come to pass. She advocates at least a 50% reduction in the military budget. Like most progressives I feel there is a lot of waste in the military budget, but 50%?
One last thing about a third Party President: if you think we have gridlock and obstruction in Washington now it would look like a model of efficiency compared to what a Congress faced with a third Party President would look like! Sad, but that is reality.
Your vote is needed. If you really care about America and the world the only intelligent vote is for Hillary Clinton for President. There is no other acceptable choice!
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