Evan McMullin

Ricochet’s Mr. D is going with Evan McMullin. I think his argument is sound.

Hillary Clinton is awful. No question. This is not a matter of who is marginally more suited for the Oval Office – neither one is. We know Hillary’s sins – deceitful, scheming, greedy, paranoid, vindictive, incompetent, and very likely criminal (feel free to pile on if I missed anything). She has experience, I’ll give her that, but it is not good experience. She was my Senator for eight years, and I can’t recall a thing – good or bad – she did in that time. As Secretary of State, her hands were tied by Obama, but she still embraces his policy choices now. I will concede she may be better on trade and foreign policy than Trump, but that’s not a given.

To say Trump is better is like saying Charles Manson is more likely to go to heaven than Joel Rifkin. He is vain, lecherous, ignorant, and dishonest. He has done nothing to show he has thought through issues, or even cared to learn the responsibilities and limitations of the office he seeks. He has the moral standards of a pig, and a well-earned reputation for being a dishonest business man. Like Hillary, he lies nearly as often as he speaks, but she at least can craft plausible falsehoods. He will lie in his second breath about what he said with his first, and expect you not to notice. He lied about his faith, yet had such contempt for the faithful that he didn’t even bother learning enough to make that lie plausible. He does not have the history of abuse of power that Hillary does, but that’s most likely because he’s never been in a position to do so.

This is not a question of which candidate is more suitable for office. In my opinion, neither one meets even the minimum standard to be called President. I believe both will be bad for the country. Both are unfit.

If you are convinced otherwise, that’s fine. I have regretted votes I have cast in the past, so who am I to tell say you are voting wrong? And even if you are, you are as entitled to do so as I am.

But the point is over the past year both candidates have had the chance to sway me – Trump more so because he was more of an unknown factor. Both have failed. Hillary is still under investigation, still has no rationale for running, and her pandering has only become worse. Trump is marginally better as a candidate, but he is no more honest or decent than he was a year ago.

On a national level, my vote will not affect the outcome of the election. It only matters perhaps in what message it might send (even then it will be but a drop in the bucket).

So I am tossing my vote to Evan McMullin. As a former CIA field operative, he has already risked more for his nation than either major party candidate. On paper, at least, his policies most align with mine. More importantly, he seems to be a decent human being. His lack of executive experience would likely have kept me from voting for him in the primary, but that would have been a case of less fit, not unfit. It is a vote I can cast with a clean conscience, and to me, that is what matters most. Many of you will vote for Trump with a clean conscience. More power to you. As Shakespeare wrote in Henry V, “Every subject’s duty is the king’s, but every subject’s soul is his own.”

Read the whole thing.

Erick Erickson, unlike so many others, is a real conservative who is able to stay in touch with reality.

In 2008, I held my nose and voted for John McCain. “If you don’t vote for him, Barack Obama will win,” they said. Barack Obama won anyway.

In 2012, I held my nose and voted for Mitt Romney. “If you don’t vote for him, Barack Obama will win,” they said. Barack Obama won anyway.

Now in 2016, they tell me if I don’t vote for Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton will win. I suspect she will anyway. But I am done holding my nose for a Republican candidate.

I could do so with Romney and McCain because, at the end of the day, though I disagreed with them on a lot of policy, I did not think either was a profoundly immoral person …

Donald Trump is different. … No one enters Trump’s orbit without getting stained. Pastors suddenly think God is off his throne and the only way to get him back is to vote for a man who supports gay marriage and men in their daughters’ bathrooms. Pro-life activists demand we vote for a man who wants to keep open Planned Parenthood. Small government conservatives demand we support a man who wants a powerful Presidency and a strong Washington. Free trade Republicans demand we vote for a protectionist who would punish any business that sets up shop elsewhere. Border security Republicans demand we vote for a man who hired illegal aliens for cheap labor and who, until he ran for President, supported open borders.

Enough.

I’m not holding my nose for a Republican candidate for President who is not a Republican. I will not hold my nose and vote for a man who funded the Clinton machine for years and had them at his wedding. I will not vote for a man who funded Democrats against Republicans then funded establishment Republicans against conservatives. I will not hold my nose for a man who mocks the values I hold dear. I will not hold my nose and vote for a man who mocks my God.

And I tell you this truthfully — if you vote for Donald Trump, do not ever expect a better candidate. Support for Trump sets a threshold for immoral cretins running for office. If he can get your vote, they can get your vote. You will find no better candidate in the future if Trump is who you support now.

Donald Trump has no virtue. He has no good character. And he has provided no good argument for me to vote for him other than that he is not Clinton. He’s just a Clinton donor who is as morally flawed and terrible as her.

Read the whole thing.