This year’s presidential election ― that thing taking up about 70% of your news feed, ruining 40% of your friendships, and making you feel 20% empty inside ― arguably has the 2 most unlikable candidates we’ve ever seen.
In wake of the revelation that Trump and Clinton are each, in their own way, fairly despicable, many voters have turned to more righteous positions. Proponents of the #BernieOrBust movement choose to remember the nostalgic yet not-so-long-ago past when lovable, trustworthy Bernie Sanders was still in the running. Some people are writing in worthier candidates’ names. And many people are choosing not to vote at all.
There is a fairly strong idea that it is better to live in the past or choose neither candidate than to give Trump or Clinton the benefit of your vote ― because with that vote comes power, and it is powerful to choose neither option. Right?
But in reality, going the route of #Bust leads to just that. Liberals who find Hillary not up to par with Bernie, and thus choosing not to vote, are simply taking another vote away from Hillary. And although they are not voting for Trump, which is the other extreme, they’re decreasing Hillary’s chances of winning, and increasing Trump’s. Moderates or generally dissatisfied Americans who choose to abstain are doing just the same.
Writing in a candidate is just the same as abstaining, as that candidate has no chance of winning. This is true, #BernieorBusters, for Sanders too ― just listen to Sarah Silverman or Seth Meyers. Even with the DNC email scandal, the truth remains that he did not win in the primary, and he is not winning now. Whatever chance he had before is gone; without a name on the ballot and his face in the media alongside Trump or Clinton, Bernie does not have a chance.
The truth of the matter is that this election has only two outcomes: either Trump wins, or Hillary does. As much as I wish our astoundingly wonderful FLOTUS were running for president, it is not as if abstaining or writing in means that a third option is truly available. This election is binary.
Every vote not given to Hillary is a vote not taken from Trump.
And let’s face it: Trump supporters are passionate. But it’s Democrats ― specifically, Bernie supporters ― who are wary of Hillary.
Hillary is losing votes to America’s unsurety, indifference, incredulity and righteousness, while Donald Trump is not.
It cannot be forgotten that Hillary’s stances are similar to Bernie’s in many ways. Even if they have changed, and even if you like Bernie as a candidate better than you like Hillary, this election is now a binary.
It is not about whether Hillary’s stances are what you hoped for in a president; it is about whether you want her stances over Trump’s (or rather, his xenophobia and lack of actual positions). Democrats and moderates have to remember that Hillary is a moderate Democrat ― more so than Trump will ever be.
It is not about whether you like Hillary; it is about whether you like her better than Trump.
Unless you want Trump to win, vote for Hillary Clinton. Do not hope for better; do not abstain. Or you might as well be voting for Trump.
For those voters on the fence, this election is no longer about what is good; it is about who is the lesser of two evils.
So when it comes down to election day, remember that it is each voter’s responsibility to choose between candidates. The higher ground is not to abstain, but to choose.
Your vote, or lack of it, mean more than you think.
To conclude, I quote the wise words of Melania Trump:
”That is the story of this country, the story that has brought me to this stage tonight, the story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves. And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, black young women playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.”