If You're Really Against Trump, You Have To Be For Hillary: Talking Points Memo

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/if-you-re-against-trump-you-have-to-be-for-hillary

By Josh Marshall : PublishedAugust 7, 2016, 11:27 AM EDT

This is not really a message or an argument that I imagine will be terribly relevant to a lot of TPM Readers. But I think it's an important one to state. We're now seeing a trickle of high profile Republicans or Republican elected officials announcing that they will not vote for Donald Trump. So far though I'm only aware of one Republican member of Congress or Governor who says they are voting for Hillary Clinton - Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY).

The simple truth is that unless you're saying who you're voting for and in practice unless you're saying you're voting for Hillary Clinton it's a cop-out, an effort to distance yourself from Trump on the cheap. In a first past the post electoral system like ours, elections are binary choices.

I do not discount the difficulty of taking this step. Far more than in recent decades, partisan affiliation is deeply tied up with personal and public identity in America. This isn't just me spitballing. There are numerous studies showing that far more than in the past our partisan affiliation (or more broadly liberal versus conservative political self-definition) affects who we're friends with, who we'll date or marry, etc. It has become very basic to how many Americans define who they are. If you're a Democrat, just imagine if the Democrats had nominated someone who not only had extremist views but was clearly too mentally unstable to be president. How easy would it be for you to vote for say Jeb Bush? I'd figure that for many that would be a hard hill to climb.

But even with all that said, it's a binary choice. It certainly helps to some degree depriving Trump of a single vote. But by not voting for Clinton you're also depriving the only person who has a chance to beat Trump of a vote.

Now, this isn't to say that voting for Gary Johnson is some kind of moral failure. Lots of committed Libertarians have been voting for the Libertarian candidate for decades. But as a way to take a 'Never Trump' stand, nope. It doesn't cut it. Same goes for writing in Mitt Romney, or George H.W. Bush or Unicorn.