Dear Mr. Romney:
Columnists and pundits have written that it's the high-brow, plugged-in, inside-the-beltway, intellectual slice of the Republican party pie that's #NeverTrump. They also write that more and more people are coming around, choking down their squeamishness, checking their consciences at the door and pledging to vote for the lesser of two evils.
I don't know any people like that. The people I know are as appalled as I am that Donald Trump is the Republican party's presumptive nominee, and horrified at the thought of his becoming president. They also don't like Hillary any more than I do.
I'm not sure that in this case there is a lesser of two evils.
I think Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are two peas in a pod.
They both appear willing to say and do whatever it takes to get votes. Hillary dissembles and Trump insults. Hillary panders and Trump plays on prejudice. Hillary's a liar. Trump's a lout. The closest thing Clinton has to a moral compass is political expediency. For Trump it's business savvy. They are both out for one thing: themselves.
As a Christian (a convert to Catholicism four years ago) I realize I'm not meant to put my faith in earthly princes or everyday people for that matter. But what little faith I had in the American electorate and the Republican party is dwindling rapidly.
I disagree with Hillary on virtually every single issue. But, like my friends, that disagreement is no stronger than the fear I feel at the prospect of Trump as president. Imagine a man with the mindset of a middle school thug and the temperament of an elementary school bully holding America's future in his hands.
As a Catholic, how could I vote for a candidate who vociferously supports abortion and a progressive social agenda that will, I have no doubt, one day infringe on my religious rights and freedoms? On the other hand, how could I vote for a man of such little self-awareness and integrity that he boasts about his sexual conquests and insults people on the basis of their gender, faith and ethnicity?
Jay Nordlinger writes this about Clinton and Trump at National Review Online: "Neither of these candidates understands the importance of American leadership in the world. Neither one understands what makes America free and prosperous, and what is required to maintain and enhance our freedom and prosperity."
I believe you do understand these things, Mr. Romney, and I believe you care about this country.
I am no insider. I'm just an ordinary Republican. And I'm asking you to run for president so that my friends, my twenty-something children, my fellow Americans and I can vote in good conscience for someone of character who will put America before himself.
I've never worked in politics but it doesn't take a genius to know that to get in the game at this late stage a third party candidate would have to be well-known and well-versed in the process. In my humble opinion, this assignment has your name written all over it.
Please run for president, Mr. Romney. Please.