It was a while ago, but a couple people asked me about my opinion of voting third party, so I thought I'd lay out what I think is the way to decide who you vote for. Of course, this is my opinion, I claim no 'eternal truth' to this one.
I have thought about this one a lot, particularly this election cycle. As I hear the claims that you 'have' to vote for one person or another, or it's your fault that someone wins, etc.. This is what I came up with. When a major election like this happens, I think the first hurdle is being qualified. Experience, previous positions or jobs held, education, intelligence, resume so to speak, etc.. I think someone can be a wonderful person and be uneducated, or have worked a blue collar type job, or any number of other things that the world or society may deem less successful. I don't believe those things speak to someone's inherent value, but I do think they speak to whether or not someone is qualified for certain jobs or positions. So, first step, is the candidate qualified. Now, at this level, it is rare that someone actually runs and is not qualified for the job, but it is possible. Ralph Nader, for instance, is someone I consider completely unqualified for the job. Once you pass the hurdle of being qualified, I think the next step is looking at any number of things that may override those qualifications. Demeanor, history, morality, ethics, etc.. This one does not require perfection. I believe we should try to find good men and women to vote for, but at the same time, we cannot demand perfection. There are things that people can do, in my opinion, that override their qualifications, for lack of a better term, I'll call that being overall qualified. To state the obvious, this variable is going to be different for different people. The hope is that people will base these off of facts as much as possible, and not just rumor.
If you have more than one candidate that after this calculus is 'overall qualified' then I think the candidates positions and their adherence to what you want to happen is a completely correct way to decide who to vote for. Personally, I don't think it is reasonable to vote for someone who agrees with your political stances, if they do not meet the standard of being overall qualified. Nor do I believe that it is reasonable to vote for someone who is not overall qualified even if the other guy is even less qualified (or to put it another way, if the opponent is more reprehensible). I don't think this only applies to the two main parties. To be clear, I kind of hate the two party system, and blame it for most of our current political problems. This blame, while directed at the two parties, really lies with us, because it is us who buys in to the system so much that we refuse to change it.
So, as to the question of voting for a third party candidate the final answer is this. I think it is right to vote for any candidate that is overall qualified. Whether they are one of the two major parties or not, I think it is a right choice for anyone to vote for anyone who is overall qualified. I may disagree with someone's decision on who is overall qualified, but like almost all things political the vast majority of those decisions are purely opinion based.
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Why I'm voting for Hillary.
This post has been being formed for a long time. Some of you will disagree with it, some of you will shake your head and ignore it, and some won’t care. All of those responses are fine, but if any of you want to get into specifics, I am more than happy to discuss or defend any of it.
First, let me just say, after many, many months of assuming that I would not be casting a vote for President of the United States, I have now decided that I will be voting for Hilary Clinton. If that surprises you, believe me it surprises me as well. To get it out of the way, I don’t particularly care for Hilary. Given 20 names of people who were qualified to be the President, she would most likely be at or near the bottom of any such list. The last few months have made me very much step back and examine my opposition to Hilary becoming the next president, and those reasons have been refined in the fiery rhetoric of all those who desperately hate her and proclaim the fear and despair and doom that would befall this country should she win. As I parsed through the various arguments, I was able to more clearly define my own, and discover if my objections were enough to warrant a no vote on election day.
I will go through some of the main arguments against Hilary Clinton becoming the next president, and how important I think they are, and how I stand on each. Again, feel free to stick around, or leave, this is mostly for me to put this ideas and reasons down.
Honesty-
I, like most people I believe, want my elected officials to be honest. I do not believe it to be a naive hope of an idealist. I do think it is something that we should, with every effort, force onto our elected officials. I do not find Hilary to be particularly honest. That having been said, as I listen to the enormous amount of vitriol directed her way pertaining to her honesty, I don’t find it particularly honest itself. Opponents of hers have set up a false narrative, followed by a differing standard only to be applied to her. I have found myself many times arguing in defense of a person who I never planned on voting for, merely because the narrative on the attack was clearly disingenuous or outright untrue. Hilary isn’t someone, who if I met her in real life, I would come away thinking her honest. That having been said, neither are 95% of the people I have voted for in my entire life. Like it or not, politicians are not the most forthright people. They twist, bend, and manipulate the truth. Is she worse than most? I don’t particularly think so, because I haven’t seen evidence to show that she is. Does this mean I think she is honest, or that I’m going to vote for her because I find her to be honest, no.
Scandal-
There is another narrative out there about Hilary Clinton, and it has to do with her being embroiled in scandal. I’ll talk about three in particular. First, Benghazi. This one elicits the most vivid and emotional reactions, and rightly so, because it involves the deaths of Americans. If as Secretary of State, she were responsible for the deaths of Americans through horrible decision making, or incompetence, or a lack of caring, these would be serious blows to someone’s qualifications to be president. Fortunately, we have had multiple, in depth, copious, witch hunt level investigations dig into all the possible evidence surrounding Benghazi. If a republican house led investigation has to admit in its final report that she was not responsible, then I think no one can claim with any sort of foundation in fact or evidence that she is. Second, email server. This one has been hashed and rehashed and rehashed. It falls back under a differing standard, and a false narrative. First, many other government officials have done the same thing. Does it make it right? No, but I don’t see people excoriating those individuals or the FBI for not prosecuting them. I think her using a private server was stupid. I believe her when she says she did it out of expediency, I don’t think that is a good enough reason. Likewise, I don’t see this as something that raises to the level of a disqualifying act. I cannot ascribe to the level of conspiracy theory that suggests that the FBI’s findings are driven by fear and corruption. For me, I am willing to accept their findings as good, and if they believe the actions warrant no charges, then I consider the case resolved. Third, the clinton foundation. Do I believe there may have been influence peddling dealing with people who donated to the Clinton foundation. Absolutely. I further believe that the way in which our political donation system is currently set up, every single elected official at the federal level deals in influence peddling. It seems disingenuous to set up a different standard for Hilary.
Supreme Court-
This one is the most troubling, but not in the way you may think. While I firmly believe that Hilary will in all likelihood nominate people to the Supreme Court that I will disagree with politically, and perhaps even legally, I am neither worried nor fearful about the Supreme Court going forward. Let me explain why. First, the gridlock that plagues our Senate today would preclude almost all but the most bland moderate candidates from being nominated. We will see no more Scalias or Ginsburgs on the bench. The make up of the court might swing, as it is meant to, based on the makeup of the country. If the country were overwhelmingly conservative, the President would be such, and the court would likewise be. What I have full faith that she will do is nominate people who are intelligent. Even if I disagree with them, I believe she will nominate scholars of the law, and students of the Constitution. People who have studied out their positions, and can explain and defend them. This is what the Supreme Court needs. To the fears that are so often used as the last line, the final I have no choice, I must vote for Trump though I dislike him, because of the Supreme Court, I would say a few words. So called ‘liberal’ justices are not salivating to take away your guns. They are not wringing their hands waiting for the day they can make illegal your worship. The last time the court swung left we got Miranda, we got brown vs. the board, we got Griswold, we got Loving vs. Virginia. Many decried the end of civilization with those rulings, and yet almost across the board we look back on those as vital movements towards a more free and fair society.
Finally, when it comes to all of the things people decry and proclaim Hilary to be, her opponent is. Donald Trump is leagues more dishonest. He sets new bars for lack of integrity with almost every speech he gives. He is steeped in almost every kind of scandal there is, and is either proud or defensive about them all. He is not a moral man, he is not a family man, he is not an ethical man. He is a racist, he is a sexist, he is cruel, insulting, and derogatory. And, here’s the thing conservatives should really understand, he is not conservative either. He has stated he will order war crimes. He has proclaimed he will use the office of President to punish his business enemies. He has been clear in his stance that he will support and put into place policies which have already been dubbed unconstitutional.
The final thing, the last issue, which when I sat and though hard about it finally was the deciding factor for voting for Hilary Clinton comes down to who will join her in the White House. I believe if you look at those who Trump has surrounded himself with during his campaign, you can see who he would use as the foundation for his presidential team. He will not look for the best and brightest. Those who have spent a career becoming experts in policy and administrative law, those who will work to maintain the integrity of the agencies they are working for. He will put in yes men and rabble rousers. Breitbart executives and white supremacists. For all the disagreements I will have policy wise with a Clinton whitehouse, I know that professionals will work for and with her. Trump doesn’t want professionals, because he knows better than everyone else.
I can no longer pretend that this is a fight between two equally abhorrent choices (though I never really believed it was). It is a fight between a person I wouldn’t have chosen, and I wish we had someone better, and a person who will be disastrous, truly. An individual who is flawed, but qualified, and a person who shouldn’t be in charge of anything, ever.
I will be voting for Hilary.
First, let me just say, after many, many months of assuming that I would not be casting a vote for President of the United States, I have now decided that I will be voting for Hilary Clinton. If that surprises you, believe me it surprises me as well. To get it out of the way, I don’t particularly care for Hilary. Given 20 names of people who were qualified to be the President, she would most likely be at or near the bottom of any such list. The last few months have made me very much step back and examine my opposition to Hilary becoming the next president, and those reasons have been refined in the fiery rhetoric of all those who desperately hate her and proclaim the fear and despair and doom that would befall this country should she win. As I parsed through the various arguments, I was able to more clearly define my own, and discover if my objections were enough to warrant a no vote on election day.
I will go through some of the main arguments against Hilary Clinton becoming the next president, and how important I think they are, and how I stand on each. Again, feel free to stick around, or leave, this is mostly for me to put this ideas and reasons down.
Honesty-
I, like most people I believe, want my elected officials to be honest. I do not believe it to be a naive hope of an idealist. I do think it is something that we should, with every effort, force onto our elected officials. I do not find Hilary to be particularly honest. That having been said, as I listen to the enormous amount of vitriol directed her way pertaining to her honesty, I don’t find it particularly honest itself. Opponents of hers have set up a false narrative, followed by a differing standard only to be applied to her. I have found myself many times arguing in defense of a person who I never planned on voting for, merely because the narrative on the attack was clearly disingenuous or outright untrue. Hilary isn’t someone, who if I met her in real life, I would come away thinking her honest. That having been said, neither are 95% of the people I have voted for in my entire life. Like it or not, politicians are not the most forthright people. They twist, bend, and manipulate the truth. Is she worse than most? I don’t particularly think so, because I haven’t seen evidence to show that she is. Does this mean I think she is honest, or that I’m going to vote for her because I find her to be honest, no.
Scandal-
There is another narrative out there about Hilary Clinton, and it has to do with her being embroiled in scandal. I’ll talk about three in particular. First, Benghazi. This one elicits the most vivid and emotional reactions, and rightly so, because it involves the deaths of Americans. If as Secretary of State, she were responsible for the deaths of Americans through horrible decision making, or incompetence, or a lack of caring, these would be serious blows to someone’s qualifications to be president. Fortunately, we have had multiple, in depth, copious, witch hunt level investigations dig into all the possible evidence surrounding Benghazi. If a republican house led investigation has to admit in its final report that she was not responsible, then I think no one can claim with any sort of foundation in fact or evidence that she is. Second, email server. This one has been hashed and rehashed and rehashed. It falls back under a differing standard, and a false narrative. First, many other government officials have done the same thing. Does it make it right? No, but I don’t see people excoriating those individuals or the FBI for not prosecuting them. I think her using a private server was stupid. I believe her when she says she did it out of expediency, I don’t think that is a good enough reason. Likewise, I don’t see this as something that raises to the level of a disqualifying act. I cannot ascribe to the level of conspiracy theory that suggests that the FBI’s findings are driven by fear and corruption. For me, I am willing to accept their findings as good, and if they believe the actions warrant no charges, then I consider the case resolved. Third, the clinton foundation. Do I believe there may have been influence peddling dealing with people who donated to the Clinton foundation. Absolutely. I further believe that the way in which our political donation system is currently set up, every single elected official at the federal level deals in influence peddling. It seems disingenuous to set up a different standard for Hilary.
Supreme Court-
This one is the most troubling, but not in the way you may think. While I firmly believe that Hilary will in all likelihood nominate people to the Supreme Court that I will disagree with politically, and perhaps even legally, I am neither worried nor fearful about the Supreme Court going forward. Let me explain why. First, the gridlock that plagues our Senate today would preclude almost all but the most bland moderate candidates from being nominated. We will see no more Scalias or Ginsburgs on the bench. The make up of the court might swing, as it is meant to, based on the makeup of the country. If the country were overwhelmingly conservative, the President would be such, and the court would likewise be. What I have full faith that she will do is nominate people who are intelligent. Even if I disagree with them, I believe she will nominate scholars of the law, and students of the Constitution. People who have studied out their positions, and can explain and defend them. This is what the Supreme Court needs. To the fears that are so often used as the last line, the final I have no choice, I must vote for Trump though I dislike him, because of the Supreme Court, I would say a few words. So called ‘liberal’ justices are not salivating to take away your guns. They are not wringing their hands waiting for the day they can make illegal your worship. The last time the court swung left we got Miranda, we got brown vs. the board, we got Griswold, we got Loving vs. Virginia. Many decried the end of civilization with those rulings, and yet almost across the board we look back on those as vital movements towards a more free and fair society.
Finally, when it comes to all of the things people decry and proclaim Hilary to be, her opponent is. Donald Trump is leagues more dishonest. He sets new bars for lack of integrity with almost every speech he gives. He is steeped in almost every kind of scandal there is, and is either proud or defensive about them all. He is not a moral man, he is not a family man, he is not an ethical man. He is a racist, he is a sexist, he is cruel, insulting, and derogatory. And, here’s the thing conservatives should really understand, he is not conservative either. He has stated he will order war crimes. He has proclaimed he will use the office of President to punish his business enemies. He has been clear in his stance that he will support and put into place policies which have already been dubbed unconstitutional.
The final thing, the last issue, which when I sat and though hard about it finally was the deciding factor for voting for Hilary Clinton comes down to who will join her in the White House. I believe if you look at those who Trump has surrounded himself with during his campaign, you can see who he would use as the foundation for his presidential team. He will not look for the best and brightest. Those who have spent a career becoming experts in policy and administrative law, those who will work to maintain the integrity of the agencies they are working for. He will put in yes men and rabble rousers. Breitbart executives and white supremacists. For all the disagreements I will have policy wise with a Clinton whitehouse, I know that professionals will work for and with her. Trump doesn’t want professionals, because he knows better than everyone else.
I can no longer pretend that this is a fight between two equally abhorrent choices (though I never really believed it was). It is a fight between a person I wouldn’t have chosen, and I wish we had someone better, and a person who will be disastrous, truly. An individual who is flawed, but qualified, and a person who shouldn’t be in charge of anything, ever.
I will be voting for Hilary.
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