Let's face it. The vast majority of Americans, on both sides of the political spectrum and from all backgrounds, are unhappy with the way things are in their country. To many, the politicians and bureaucrats in Washington D.C. have run the country into the ground time and time again, with the possible exception of when the party that that particular individual prefers was in power. It shouldn't be a surprise that during the primary season, the labels of "anti-establishment" and "political outsider" were coveted ones... candidates from both parties that managed to win them saw their numbers soar in the polls, as they gained support from the anger of millions of Americans, both justified and otherwise. And now, in the election season, we've been handed the perfect chance to bring down the hated establishment. We have a choice between Hillary Clinton, the physical manifestation of establishment politics, and Donald Trump, who seems to plan on burning the whole thing to the ground.
Maybe They Were On To Something...
But as tempting as it may be to cast a vote in protest, to give the establishment the ultimate middle finger by choosing Trump... don't. Trust me... the stakes are too high.
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As the old saying goes, don't cut off your nose to spite your face. As much as we might want to vote Trump to bring down the establishment, know that he'll bring down much more than that. Indeed, a vote in protest for Trump is a threat to the very institutions on which our country stands; free and fair elections, equality for all, and the peaceful transition of power. For any other candidate, in any other election, this would be an exaggeration of a massive scale. But in this election, this may not be the case. Even now, before votes have even been cast, Trump has insisted that the system is rigged against him. Clinton will cheat her way to the Presidency, he claims. Voter fraud is rampant, he promises, despite all evidence pointing to the contrary. The only way he could possibly lose, he assures us, is if the election is rigged... despite being down by huge margins in the polls.
RCP Only Has Him 128 Electoral Votes Down. That's Not Thaaaat Much...
As utterly pathetic as it is for him to insist the other side cheated weeks before it would actually be possible for the other side to cheat, it's also dangerous. By insisting that the elections won't be fair, Trump is damaging the American population's faith and trust in our democracy. The reason that our great nation has never had a dictator, never experienced a military coup, and has held together for so long is because, in this country, we respect the results of our elections. When one side wins, the other side respectfully concedes defeat. They don't question how accurately votes were counted. They don't suggest, explicitly or otherwise, that the election wasn't fair. They don't insist they were cheated and try to take power by force.
With One Particularly Bloody Exception...
Of course, there are many other ways that Donald Trump is a threat to the principles that America holds dear. For example, he is a blatant, unapologetic racist. And for all the people saying that he isn't, let me remind you that one of his most famous surrogates, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who Trump has repeatedly praised, believes that the one of the main causes of America's woes is a massive international conspiracy by... wait for it... the Jews. Yep. He actually blamed the Jews. If that sounds at all familiar, it might be because a certain German leader believed roughly the same thing back in the forties. Of course, for Jones, this is nothing new. This, after all, is a man who steadfastly believes that the government is putting chemicals in fruit juice to turn people gay. Because... reasons. Also that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are literal demons, reek of sulfur, and cause people around them to have terrifying nightmares. But while other presidential candidates have certainly benefited from the support of men like Jones, none of them has dared speak highly of someone so literally insane... until now. Trump is proving himself not only a threat to democracy, but to the very idea of facts.
He Seems Trustworthy...
But what's the harm in a protest vote, right? Clinton will win anyways, so why not? Well... precedent shows that it doesn't work that way. For many people in Britain, the referendum to leave the EU was a chance for a protest vote. After all, there was no way it could possibly pass. See, the thing is, democracy isn't a game. When millions of people vote for something they don't want just for the hell of it, they get that thing they don't want. There are no take-backs. You can't say "just kidding" and take back your vote. As the people of Britain discovered, when enough people cast a vote for something they don't want in protest, they just might get it. Even if many of them weren't sure exactly what they were voting for.
Let's be real here. Hillary Clinton is a flawed candidate. And her liberal policies might not be very popular with conservatives. But she's only as flawed as literally every other president before her, with the possible exceptions of Barack Obama, who had yet to be corrupted by politics when he took office, and Jimmy Carter, who is quite literally a saint of a man, even if he wasn't that great of a president. And with changing national attitudes towards issues like LGBT rights, police brutality, gun control, and so on changing every day, let's be honest... if Clinton doesn't make them into law, somebody else will.
The Ninety Year Old Former President Builds Houses for Haitian Earthquake Victims When He Isn't Working on World Peace
This isn't a partisan issue either. Dozens upon dozens of Republicans, including politicians, journalists, celebrities, and rank-and-file voters have condemned Trump for his hateful rhetoric, lack of basic decency, and talk of violent revolution in the likely event that Clinton wins. Trump is the first presidential candidate in history to not receive a single endorsement from a living former president, while his opponent, rather notably, received four... one even from Republican George H. W. Bush. The only former president not to endorse Clinton, President George W. Bush, has strongly opposed Trump. Even former Republican presidential candidates have turned on Trump, with former Republican nominees Mitt Romney and John McCain both criticizing him heavily. Most notably, long standing conservative newspapers, including the steadfastly conservative Arizona Republic, have braved death threats to condemn a man they see as a danger to the very fabric of America.
Friends. Readers. Fellow Americans. I am quite literally begging you, as somebody who loves this country, to send this man to the scrapheap of history where he belongs. Vote for Hillary. Vote for Gary Johnson, or Jill Stein. Write in Joe Biden, or Bernie Sanders, or Mike Pence. You can even follow the lead of my former AP United States Government and Politics teacher, who often writes in himself. I myself am considering writing in the fictional President Josiah Bartlet, although fear of the nation's collapse may convince me to grit my teeth and vote Democrat.
Just, please... for the sake of our country. For the sake of our democracy. For the sake of our collective sanity. Don't vote out of spite. Put country over party. Because I promise you, picking Trump is the worst decision we could ever make.
Or don't. If worst comes to worst, I've heard Montreal is beautiful this time of year. I'll bring you all maple syrup.
