Here's Donny

Presidential election time is fast approaching, and heavily on my mind.

A friend on social media recently wrote a post about how she felt disappointment with the current presidential nominee candidates.  All of them.  Not one party in particular, just all of them.  She stated that she was considering abstaining from the vote unless a candidate came out of the wood work that offered a better choice for her.

I feel her pain.  Rarely in a presidential election or really any level of election for that matter, have I found a candidate that completely espouses every political, social, moral, theoretical or religious belief of mine.  I normally choose a few issues I'm primarily concerned with, and vote for the candidate I find most likely to have an agenda similar. 

That being said, sometimes a candidate is so terrifying.  Sometimes the idea of their particular style of governance, their bigoted ideas are so frightening, I'd vote for the other candidate just to keep them out of office.  

It's the lesser of two evils. 

Many people disagree with me, and the idealist in me recognizes the validity of their arguments. Voting for the lesser of two evils fuels the fire of a broken two party system. Recognizing other parties or writing in candidates challenges that system, and in the long game may even change it (I've voted green party for crying out loud).  The realist in me says, "This hateful, bastard is going to be the leader of the free world if we don't stop him."

I didn't respond to her post.  I spent time thinking about it.  Far be it from me to tell someone what to do with their lives, or their civic responsibilities.  Far be it from me to tell someone how to vote.... But I'm going to anyway.

I think you should vote.  I'm not talking just to my FB friend here.  I'm talking to you.  I think you should vote in every damn election you have the opportunity to vote in.  I think it's a privilege denied to many, a privilege people fought for, were beaten, arrested and killed to give you.  

I also think that sometimes a candidate is so scary, so full of misogyny, racism, and xenophobia that you should vote for the other person.  Even if the other person running doesn't embrace every political ideology that you do.  I think you should vote for the other person because you have an obligation to this democracy, an obligation to help keep it from those that seek to or just, would, destroy it.  I'm not saying this just because it's scary, I'm saying it because in order to preserve the most important foundation of this country, (We hold these truths to be self -evident that all men [women, transgender] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness),  you might have to pick the lesser of two evils.  If you don't, if you sit at home and abstain to make a point, most of us might not hear it, but we will hear the radical, bullying rally cry of those willing to vote for the scary guy.