A Concise and Cogent Reason for Not Voting for Donald Trump

Principle 1: Voting for a leader is directly and actively helping to put (or keep) him in power. There’s no escaping that reality.

Principle 2: There are basic qualifications for leadership roles and it isn’t wise or ethical to help put someone in power who is clearly lacks them.

Principle 3: Donald Trump is below that threshold by a large enough margin to see daylight between him and it. (This is not a uniquely presidential threshold. It’s a “leader of anything important at all anywhere” threshold. There are just a lot more actual and potential consequences when it’s executive of a large, powerful nation with a rapidly collapsing culture.)

Finally, conservatism—as a political philosophy—needs principled leadership more than ever. How is it going to get that leadership if the masses keep approving and reapproving unprincipled leaders?

No, I won’t be voting for Biden either, though for different reasons. In his case, it has more to do with serious policy problems. He seems to be a better human being than Trump, but that isn’t saying much.

Trump’s a mess. His policies are mostly good. The judges he has appointed will continue to pull the US toward constitutional government for years to come. Four more years of similar judges could well lock up the Federal courts against liberal manipulations long after Trump is gone. My advice is to hold your nose and vote for Trump.

I agree with Barkman.

Biden’s obviously got dementia, which means his handlers on the far left are going to manipulate him until they cast him aside. Consider the consequences as the Democrats enact taxpayer funded abortion, de-fund the police (killing thousands of minorities each year if the Obama era “recusal” of police is any indication), paralysis of the economy with the “Green New Deal” and strongly increased taxes (plus kickbacks for his wealthy liberal supporters), disastrous support for labor unions that will strongly hurt workers, and a whole lot more.

Consider also that for all his faults, Trump is not clearly corrupt. Both Biden (kick-backs for himself and his son) and Harris (sleeping her way to the top with Willie Brown) are. Brothers, politics is an engineering question where you take the best alternative, and for all that Trump stinks, he’s far better than the Democrats.

I was considering voting for Trump, in a vague sort of way, when he nominated Judge Barrett. However, that debate was the worst thing I’ve ever seen, and I will now never vote for the man. I shall vote third-party. For those who may be tempted to protest, WA is so solidly deep blue in the Electoral College it might as well be black. So, a vote for the President is essentially wasted anyway. WA’s electoral college votes will go for Biden, no matter what I do.

[TylerR]

I was considering voting for Trump, in a vague sort of way, when he nominated Judge Barrett. However, that debate was the worst thing I’ve ever seen, and I will now never vote for the man. I shall vote third-party. For those who may be tempted to protest, WA is so solidly deep blue in the Electoral College it might as well be black. So, a vote for the President is essentially wasted anyway. WA’s electoral college votes will go for Biden, no matter what I do.

Ditto - except Minnesota.

President Trump has been the same man I was exposed to when he was a real estate tycoon / casino magnate in Atlantic City, NJ. The latest debate was pure Trump and his behavior didn’t surprise me in the least.

The only thing that’s really changed is that he’s conned believers into thinking that he has a real desire to lead them. He isn’t…Evangelicals are just a voting bloc he desperately needs to have a shot at winning his re-election.

I didn’t trust Trump in 2016 and I trust him less than I do after four years as President. My vote will go to a write-in and he will lose NY by a landslide. I fully expect he will lose the election as well, and then Christians will be left trying to explain how they could support someone as morally bankrupt and still claim to hold any kind of moral high ground to unbelievers.
Christians largely traded their public testimony and witness for “someone who fights”. That bill is now coming due.

Why?

1-Because of what the country will become if Biden wins.

2- For religious freedom

3-Because Biden is a liar

4-Because the media in general are liars. I watched PBS news hour last night for the first time in a decade. It was quite possibly MORE PARTISAN than CBS/NBC/ABC. It was 100% all about how Trump was a lying fascist… ridiculous.

5- Because of the Supreme Court

6-Because of the lower Federal Courts

7- Because I support the Constitution

8-Because I love this country

9- To end the riots

10- To support freedom

11- To keep my taxes low. Biden vows to raise my personal taxes by at least $4000.

12- To keep the Green New Deal from becoming a reality

and much more

Tweeted this morning.

Principle 1: Voting for a leader is directly and actively helping to put (or keep) him in power. There’s no escaping that reality.

Principle 2: There are basic qualifications for leadership roles and it isn’t wise or ethical to help put someone in power who is clearly lacks them.

Principle 3: Donald Trump [and Joe Biden (way, way, below the threshold)] is below that threshold by a large enough margin to see daylight between him and it. (This is not a uniquely presidential threshold. It’s a “leader of anything important at all anywhere” threshold. There are just a lot more actual and potential consequences when it’s executive of a large, powerful nation with a rapidly collapsing culture.)

The principles stated above can apply equally well and even more so in support of voting for Trump, as any alternative supports the undesirable outcome that the principles speak against in a far worse way than is represented by Trump. No argument regarding what a vote “means” changes this reality.

[Jay]

…Christians will be left trying to explain how they could support someone as morally bankrupt and still claim to hold any kind of moral high ground to unbelievers.

Christians largely traded their public testimony and witness for “someone who fights”. That bill is now coming due.

I can’t speak for you or any other Christian. For myself, I can explain (as I have for the past 4 years), that it’s Trump’s policies, not the man himself, that are causing me to hold my nose and vote for him. If I had been an Israelite in the time of Samson I could easily have cheered his victories over the Philistines without praising the man, and wished and hoped for more of those victories, knowing that he didn’t behave much differently in his personal life than they did. And I can (and do) explain the various policies and positions (like Mark has laid out) to others that cause me to make that decision to vote for Trump. I can also easily point out where the opposite candidate (in both elections) doesn’t meet a “Christian” standard any more than Trump does, with worse policies.

In my yard, there are no political signs of any stripe, party, local candidate, or national candidate. I have flown, and still do fly, various flags from the 13-star flag, 911 flags, NRA flags, Thin Blue Line flags, Don’t tread on me flags, and similar, depending on the mood at the time, so people might have some idea where I stand. I’ve had a Thin Blue Line flag up most of the summer and still do. I have great relationships with my neighbors (some of whom have complimented my TBL and DTOM flags), am kind and friendly to them, my wife has made meals/desserts for them, and so on. Trump doesn’t come up, although the elections have. When speaking to them of my faith, I have yet to see national politics come up. If it does, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it, but I’m fairly certain that the testimony of myself and my wife are much more due to our relationships with our neighbors, and how we treat them, regardless of their political affiliation, rather than how we voted.