I hate the man.
As the editor of the Huffington post has pointed out hundreds of times: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims ― 1.6 billion members of an entire religion ― from entering the U.S.
And yet every day I edge closer and closer to voting for him. Because even though all that is true ― even though all that is absolutely true... he’s still the lesser of two evils.
Hillary Clinton had all the money, name recognition, and advantages any candidate could. And yet, the DNC had to rig the election in her favor. I can’t say that Bernie would have won if the DNC wasn’t rigging the election in her favor, but the fact that they did means that Hillary Clinton has no more of a legitimate claim to being the Democratic nominee than I do.
Trump has no respect for democracy. We know this. But at the end of the day, with every force in the Republican party against him, he won fair and square. He abided by the rules. Donald Trump proves he doesn’t respect Democracy by his rhetoric. But Clinton has proven she doesn’t respect Democracy by her actions.
Which is worse?
Not that it matters. It looks like Trump’s going to win this election. Any other Democratic candidate should be able to beat Donald Trump in a cakewalk. The man is horrible. But (because, in part, that she cheated), Hillary Clinton will be the nominee. And as Michael Moore put it, there’s a lot of reasons that she’s going to lose to Trump.
Which is worse?
Not that it matters. It looks like Trump’s going to win this election. Any other Democratic candidate should be able to beat Donald Trump in a cakewalk. The man is horrible. But (because, in part, that she cheated), Hillary Clinton will be the nominee. And as Michael Moore put it, there’s a lot of reasons that she’s going to lose to Trump.
Over and over the key theme of this election cycle is that “the system is rigged,” How is someone who is caught red handed rigging the system going to get in front of that message? We have proof positive that Clinton is indeed one of the people rigging the system. It’s a rare opportunity to put a face to the systemic corruption - and that’s Clinton’s face.
Maybe the bulk of Bernie supporters will vote for Clinton to defeat Trump. But too many won’t turn out, or will switch sides. At any rate, they’re not going to the ballot box with their head held high... they’re not going to get their friends and family to vote, they’re not going to volunteer or donate.
Senator Sanders and Senator Warren have endorsed Hillary Clinton because “we must defeat Donald Trump.” But there is only one person who can ensure Donald Trump is defeated - and that is Hillary Clinton... by declining the nomination.
If Clinton cared one iota for this nation, if she would ever put her country before herself, she would step aside and let someone else (anyone else) be the nominee. Because any other Democrat could handily beat Donald Trump. Only because Clinton cheated her way to the nomination is Trump a clear and present danger to American Democracy.
Sure, Trump is a wild beast, a crazed lunatic, But Clinton is far, far worse. Clinton is holding us hostage. She is effectively demanding that we give her everything, otherwise she will set the wild beast upon us.
This is not the conduct of a leader. And at this point, I’d rather take my chances with the wild beast.
Furthermore, I think for the long term good of the nation, and for the progressive movement, Hillary Clinton has to lose this election. We need to teach the powers that be in the Democratic Party the lesson that Trump taught the Republican Party - if you continue to ignore when the people are screaming for reform, when you ignore the cries to fix the rigged system, you are going to lose.
Until then, nothing will change. We have to stand fast: We won’t tolerate anyone who steals an election, and we won’t tolerate people who have no respect for the foundations of democracy.
So I’m not just preparing for a Trump presidency, I’m thinking it might be good in the long run. After all, it would destroy the Republican party for generations, and would be the death-knell for the conservative movement which (despite some sincere, well-meaning people) has done incredible damage to the country over the last half-century.
On the other hand, Clinton’s presidency would likely be the worst Democratic presidency in a long time. It certainly wouldn’t represent progressive values.
So yeah, given no other options than Clinton or Trump, I might just have to vote for Trump.