Let’s face it: a LOT of them (many whom I personally like, admire, and respect) voted for Trump!
Why?
If we are to have any chance at all of bridging some of the deep and daunting chasms that currently divide us, I think we have to try to understand the rationale behind the decisions made by those intelligent and well intentioned fellow citizens who viewed the same set of facts yet came to radically different conclusions.
I should probably disclose up-front that I proudly voted for Barack Obama twice and would have just as proudly voted for him a third time if that had been an option. I did so because in each of those two elections I believed that given the choices available, he was the candidate best suited for the Presidency. It was NOT because I believed wholeheartedly in all of his positions and policies.
As a matter of fact, I absolutely LOATHE Obama-care: it has personally cost me several thousand dollars in higher insurance premiums and deductibles while significantly reducing the level and quality of care I am able to afford. I also think President Obama made several serious mistakes during his presidency. The most egregious was probably the failure to back-up his “red-line” ultimatum when the butcher Assad used chemical weapons against his own people.
So, I really DO get the frustration that many Americans felt with the status-quo and their strong desire to fundamentally change the direction that the career politicians in Washington seem content to follow. I was also fervently hoping for a strong, fresh, “New Face” to emerge as a viable candidate. I was particularly impressed by Republican Governor John Kasich of Ohio and Michael Bloomberg, formerly the Republican Mayor of New York City and a “legitimate” self-made billionaire.
Had either one of these fine individuals emerged as the Republican candidate, my choice would have been very easy and very Republican. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened.
As we all know, the choice came down to two almost equally repugnant candidates. So – how did I make my own decision?
Well, during the course of the first presidential campaign that I can recall (at the ripe old age of six!) I asked my Dad why he decided to vote for Kennedy instead of Nixon. I still remember his answer & his advice: “Always vote for the Man, not his positions and not his party”. This was obviously way before a Woman could be considered as a viable candidate, but I’m sure he would have had no problem expanding his world view and his advice accordingly.
I have done precisely that in every election ever since. Win or lose, I’ve never had cause to regret my choices.
In considering the only two viable candidates left standing in the 2016 election, I came to the conclusion that Hillary Clinton, flawed though she undoubtedly was, would be considerably less likely to do lasting permanent damage to the fabric and moral character of our Nation and its institutions.
Based on my knowledge of Donald Trump’s shady business dealings as well as his utter lack of any personal integrity, I viewed (and continue to view) him as an existential threat to the great and grand experiment in self-governance that we call America.
Just because a good many of my friends and acquaintances viewed the same set of circumstances but reached a completely different conclusion does that make them traitors, racists or “deplorables”?
Of course not. As a matter of fact, given what is at stake here, I honestly hope that THEY were right in their judgement and that the analysis outlined above is dead wrong.
No matter how the national drama now unfolding before us works out though, we will NEED the best efforts and intentions of ALL American’s to heal the self-inflicted wounds that are now tormenting us and build a better, brighter future – together.
Bridges-Not-Walls 