As we’re all aware by now, Hillary became the official Democratic nominee this week. During the DNC I was plagued by a mixture of feelings — I’ve been a Bernie fan since I began to see information about and support for him online, probably a year and a half ago. His dedication to making college education attainable and to supporting women and the working class were admirable. The passion and forcefulness he exuded when talking about these things were even more so. I felt almost giddy seeing support for him grow and the idea of a Sanders presidency become more feasible. For a while, however, it’s been clear that Bernie would not be the Democratic nominee and I’ve made my peace with the fact that I’ll be voting for Hillary in November.
The sheer unwillingness of Bernie supporters to vote for Hillary astounds and terrifies me. There is no earthly reason Donald Trump should become the leader of our already floundering country. But if it happens, it will be the result of apathy. His success will rest, not with his terrifying and fervent supporters, but with the masses of people who decide not to vote or with those who strayed to a third party candidate rather than uniting around Hillary.
Many are calling this election a matter of “the lesser of two evils,” and I can’t help but agree. Hillary was not my first choice. Her support of the Tough on Crime Act that has led to the incarceration of young black men, her racist dismissal of the Black Lives Matter movement and her tone-deaf pandering to millennial voters via Snapchat and Vine rather than youth-oriented policy are all off-putting to me. But I'm going to vote for her anyway.
I’m going to vote for her because she is the only viable way to keep Trump out of office. I’m going to vote for her because I refuse to be part of the reason a racist, sexist, homophobic, hateful, fear-mongering bigot gets elected to the Oval Office. I’m going to vote for her because, in my mind, there is not doubt that she is the lesser of two evils. She is far more qualified for the job. She has actual experience with government. She has not run companies into the ground. She has not been accused of rape — not once, let alone multiple times. She has no ridiculous, deluded ideas of forcing Mexico to build a wall along the border. In short, she does not terrify me and I do not believe that she will isolate and ruin our country.
When it became clear that Hillary was going to be the Democratic nominee, I watched in dismay (though not in surprise) as countless Bernie fans turned to third party candidates. I saw too many of my Facebook friends promoting Jill Stein and attempting to mobilize all of their friends to follow suit. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. This utter refusal to vote for Hillary was confirming what I’d been trying to deny for months: that Bernie supporters would truly turn to unproductive voting that would inevitably benefit Trump, rather than deciding to support Hillary. I understand the desire to stand against the flawed system. I understand the convictions behind many people’s dislike of Hillary. But I’m far too worried about Donald Trump becoming President to vote for someone other than Hillary in good faith.
I lost further hope when Bernie himself was booed by the Bernie or Bust lot for encouraging his supporters to do so. He has endorsed Hillary and he has stressed the imminent important of supporting her. And the people who claim to support him dismissed this. Bernie is not weak or a sell-out for endorsing Hillary, he is realistic.
I understand the logic behind those who say, “If enough people support a third party candidate, they could be elected,” because, in theory, it makes sense. But it won’t happen. If this election has demonstrated anything, it’s how divided our country is. If people are so staunchly unwilling to unite under Hillary, a national party candidate with a highly visible and well-funded campaign, then they will most certainly not unite under a third party candidate lacking this visibility. And the more people who adopt this logic, the weaker the fight against Trump becomes.
Third party candidates only divide the vote and make it more difficult for a main party candidate to get the majority. And it’s not the right wing voters who are straying to vote for a third party, it’s the left. If the bloc that would theoretically vote for Hillary is divided, then Trump’s mob only benefits. If you don’t support Trump, then you should be dedicated to keeping him out of office and you should accept the most realistic method of doing so: voting for Hillary. A vote for Hillary is more than a vote for Hillary; it’s a vote against Trump.
