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Giving the Benefit of the Doubt and Voting One’s Conscience
I did not vote for Donald Trump in the primaries. Nor did I vote for my preferred choice in the primaries. By the time the primaries reached Michigan, my preferred choice had dropped out. So had my second choice. So had my third. By the time the primaries came to my state, I had to choose who the best remaining viable candidate was. That was Ted Cruz. Unfortunately, he did not win the nomination.
Now, the primaries were a rough fight and many of the candidates came out bruised up, including Cruz. Trump had insulted his wife and made accusations against his father. Slights of that kind can take time to heal. At the convention, Senator Cruz said, “Vote your conscience.” I agreed with that and intended to do so.
Back in late 1992, the numbers looked good for President Bush to win re-election. I didn’t think that my vote would matter much, and there was a party that aligned with my values better than Mr. Read-my-Lips. This third party was hoping to reach the threshold to have permanent ballot status, and to get it they needed at least 5% of the votes at the top of the ticket. No, I certainly did not vote for Perot. I worked for EDS at the time, the company he had founded, and I knew far too much about H. Ross Perot to vote for him, although some of my friends who were similarly employed were going for him. No, I was in the party of the white, male computer professional, the one that has since degenerated into the party of brain damage and fat guys in thongs. I walked out of the polls hopeful that we would get automatic ballot access status, but figuring Bush would get his second term, since it was obvious what Clinton was and what Perot was when he reactivated his campaign. I was surprised and very unhappy at the result.
Now, my one vote in Michigan would not have made a difference to the result had I voted for GHWB. But I still learned a lesson. When there is a choice between the clueless and the venal winning, and all others had no chance of winning, go with the clueless. I have never since voted for a third party (or even a second party, if you know what I mean.) It is a matter of conscience over strict observance, of the spirit of the principles I hold over the letter. The principles say, “I will only vote for freedom.” But sometimes, the spirit of that means I vote for “compassionate conservatism” over “We need to stop global warming!” It’s not that I vote for the lesser of two evils. I vote against the greater of two evils.
In this election season, we have an ugly, ugly choice. We have Trump, who is a populist who will probably be “business-as-usual” in Washington, so a more popular version of GHWB. I doubt he will do half of what he says he will, since a lot of things start in Congress. Sure, he sounds like a tin-pot dictator who has no clue what the Constitution is, but that doesn’t mean he will be one. Also, he does have a very long track record of being pro-America. And then we have Hillary Clinton, who has a very long track record of being an international socialist trying to shove European values and ideas down our throats. Her track record also includes lying and obstruction and corruption, including what looks to any normal person like accepting bribes for favors while Secretary of State. She was fired for lying from the Watergate Investigation, for goodness sake, and she has not improved since. If she gets elected, we have another four to eight years of scandals, including the new ones she and Bill will engender. One of these two individuals will be the next President of the United States, the CEO of the Federal Government. Gary “Duuuude!” Johnson will not be. Jill Stein will not be. As I said, the spirit of my principles is to vote against the greater evil, and I really believe that to be Hillary Clinton. I shall vote my conscience and darken the oval for Trump.
Now, some of you may think you are in a safe state where your vote doesn’t matter. A voter in Maryland votes for Clinton, knowing Maryland will go that way anyway and figures it’s a vote for the apocalypse? Alright. A voter in Texas thinks there is no way Texas will go for Clinton so votes for Johnson or Stein? Alright. But even were I in a safe state, I don’t feel that I could take the chance. Nor do I feel I can take the chance of not marking any oval for President. I have to vote against the greater evil.
Ted Cruz seems to have made the same calculus that I have and come up with similar conclusions. In his statement, Cruz wrote,
These are six vital issues where the candidates’ positions present a clear choice for the American people. If Clinton wins, we know—with 100% certainty—that she would deliver on her left-wing promises, with devastating results for our country. My conscience tells me I must do whatever I can to stop that.
He is not voting for Donald Trump. He is voting against Hillary Clinton. Cruz is facing a choice about his principles, and he has chosen the spirit over the letter, somewhat as William F. Buckley said to choose the most conservative candidate who is viable.
So, those of you who are castigating Senator Cruz for abandoning his principles, I would enjoin you to take another look at that idea and give the man the benefit of the doubt. He has had to overcome a lot of personal animus against Donald Trump to endorse him. He has had to be a bigger man that Trump. He has had to put aside what other people might think of him, such as your own accusations, to adhere to the spirit of his principles. Be as big as Cruz has shown himself to be. Put aside your animosity and try to see through his eyes.
Published in Politics
I’ll take no pleasure in voting for Candidate Trump, but if I can perceive said vote as a vicious B–ch Slap to HRC, that will sufficiently compensate me.
Amen to that.
No offense meant, Arahant, but the argument “vote for Trump because he’s not Hillary” is unlikely to move enough people. Opinion polls in the end are talk, and talk is cheap. Even voting for the most conservative candidate doesn’t help: Trump’s no conservative, he is a populist, and a ignorant, vulgar one at that. His “conversion” to pro-life is as counterfeit as a three dollar bill, and his saying that he believes in punishing women who have abortions indicates that he’s never spent fifteen minutes thinking about it.
Come to that, I am unaware of any position he has taken that shows evidence that he has spent fifteen minutes thinking. We are going to bomb the oil. We are going to take the oil. After we’ve bombed it? That will be messy.
I promised myself that I wouldn’t comment any more on threads about the Donald. This is my swan song. To all his ardent supporters, all I ask is that you make your best case for Donald Trump without mentioning Hillary.
It amuses me to no end that in Graydon Carter’s “short-fimgered vulgarian” characterization, Trump objects strenuously to the “short-fingered” part.
“darken the oval for Trump” and “vote as a vicious B–ch Slap to HRC” (@julespa ) are two of my all-time favorite samples of colorful writing on this site.
This election is a Greek tragedy on some levels, with people of faith and principle in agony for months over their essentially 2-minute act of voting. It’s a magnificent country that grants each person real power in choices of historic significance; I can only hope – and I do pray – that the Lord rewards our country with wisdom at the election, and the motivation to stay involved after it so we right the path of our journey.
I’m not looking to convince anyone to vote for the Donald. I mentioned him merely to illustrate a political calculus can be principled, even when the result may seem counter-intuitive.
This post is not about The Donald. It is about the individuals who say that Cruz has thrown his principles aside and are assuming the worst about him. Can’t we give the players on our own side the benefit of the doubt?
And, by the way, I assume that those censuring Cruz would do the same of me, since I see parallels in the political calculus.
Well said, and a rare political post from you too.
Well said.
That is hardly a fair characterization of what was said. Chris Matthews asked whether, if the law said that a woman who has an abortion should go to prison, should a woman who has an abortion go to prison. He said yes, meaning that the law should be enforced. He has never said that he supports making that the law. It was actually a nice change of pace though, a presidential candidate who supports enforcing the law as written.
If you don’t like Trump, there are plenty of reasons without depending on the fevered imagination of Chris Matthews.
I understand what Cruz is doing in the same way you presented it and described it so well, and I’m not upset with him for doing it. And I too am voting for Trump.
That said, he and 99 percent of the other politicians would make the world’s worst parents: responsible parents don’t make promises they might not be able to keep. Responsible adults shouldn’t either.
It bothers me not just with Cruz but with all of them. They need to be careful with what they say in the first place.
Well done, Arahant. This is the type of sober, realistic argument that I think is the most effective.
Thank you.
Agree with all you said – many of us experienced the same thing
Good post, Arahant. I’m pretty much sick of posts about Trump vs Clinton, but I’m glad I read yours. We’ve all got different priorities and different calculations on how our vote can best benefit the nation. Let’s not beat each other up on our side because our calculations lead us to different choices.
Man, am I happy to see this post, and eloquently argued to boot. It is an excellent response, intended or not, to Jon Gabriel’s uncharitable post, in which he assumes a betrayal of “conservatism” on Cruz’s part (as Jon quipped in a comment).
Imputation of motive has been probably the most insidious rotter on the conservative side in this year of Trump.
Amen to that. (And glad someone understood it, unlike my hometown friend @percival :P )
Now, if you’re going to mention the man, be polite and tag him: @jon
Apologies.
You were right in surmising that this was a reaction to Jon and comments from others that were similar, though. So, we might as well get him to the show.
Haha. We don’t need rewards, we need protection and grace.
I live in a very blue state. Early on I donated money to one of the Never-Trump political publications so that they could pursue the argument against him. By the time I voted in our Republican primary, Trump was the only Presidential candidate listed on the ballot and so I voted only on the down ticket Republicans. My vote has never “counted” where I live, but I have nevertheless always voted. Voting has a cathartic effect which allows me to register my real but helpless disapproval of Democrats in power or coming to power. I intend to vote in November of course because there is a lot to be said for catharsis under these circumstances.
I should of added that I consider the election to be a completely binary choice.
There are many times when my vote has been nothing more than a protest here in Michigan, but at least we haven’t completely fallen off the edge like the very blue states.
Great post, Arahant! I am glad such thoughtful individuals are still in our only semi-blue state of Michigan. I don’t have any arguments with your political analysis and never criticize anyone for the hard choices they make at the ballot box. I am just don’t know how I am going to tell my kids in the future that I voted for Trump.
I can understand that perfectly. Want a clothespin for your nose as you vote?
This morning a co-worker said he ought to have a batch of clothespins made up that say Clinton on one side and Trump on the other.
I as well have come to a similar conclusion and by a similar calculus, and I have stated this on Ricochet before. Of all the actually viable (as in ability to win) candidates running, I will vote for the one that King George IV, i.e. Dread King Soros, hates the most. #NeverSoros
Hear, hear! We’ve got a terrible choice before us in November, and what the least-terrible-of-the-available-options is is a much murkier topic than I would have imagined possible considering Hillary is on the ballot. I’m probably voting Trump, but I strongly sympathize with the Never-Trumpers. I actually do enjoy reading all the different arguments people are writing for or against voting Trump, but I’m tired of hearing people accused of being moral preeners or un-conservative just because they’ve weighed and measured and have come down on different sides of this dilemma. The world is a complex, messy place- smart people of good faith can look at the same information and come to different conclusions.
Also, I have no issues with Cruz’s endorsement (nor would I have had any issues with him not endorsing given Trump’s vile slanders and insults against his family). I thought Cruz acquitted himself well in his explanation for his decision.