As the race towards the Democratic nomination wages on, both nominees (regardless of what corporate media claims) stand a fighting chance.
However, the Republican Party is slowly having to accept the reality Donald Trump will likely be 2016’s nominee.
With this fear looming, many liberal supporters have adopted a new narrative for this election: should Hillary Clinton win the nomination, every liberal- including adamant Bernie Sanders supporters- are obligated to vote for her.
The narrative is simple: anyone who does not vote (or does not vote for Hillary) is voting for Trump. And regardless of any qualms you may have about Hillary, you would be ridiculous to suggest she is equal to the aggressive, xenophobic monster that is Trump.
I can’t vote in the upcoming general election, but if I could, I still wouldn’t vote for Hillary. Even if she is running against Donald Trump.
My case is as follows:
The premise of Bernie Sanders’ campaign- his self-proclaimed political revolution- is that we cannot afford to live in a world where we have to choose the “lesser of two evils”. I am not here to convince you Bernie is the better candidate, I am not here to tell you Hillary is an evil, even if a lesser one than Trump. I am simply noting that many, many Bernie supporters do see a vote for Hillary as a vote for a lesser evil- and they have every right to. I personally believe that the drone strikes Hillary helped orchestrate are evil. I believe removing Black Lives Matter protestors and veterans concerned about her role in the Benghazi attacks is cowardly at best. I believe that treating some of the most important issues of our generation- such as immigration, climate change, gun control, welfare reform, healthcare, maternity leave, accessible childcare, access to post-secondary education, fracking, trade agreements, the Keystone pipelines, private prisons, Wall Street reform- as stances that can be bought, altered or manipulated depending on which group of voters you are trying to target is evil. But that’s not my point.
My point is that no one, at any time, for any reason, is obligated to vote. Your right to participate in democracy, and your right to privacy, are clear and unalienable. If you feel your beliefs are best represented by refusing to participate in a system you feel is inherently unfair and unrepresentative of your values, then by all means, take that route. If not voting is a vote, than your vote is for boycotting a political system where coin tosses and superdelegates and Goldman Sachs money decide elections. That’s fair enough.
Personally, I would not go to sleep the night of the election feeling like an ethical human being if I had voted for Hillary. No, my vote wouldn’t have been for banning Muslims or deporting millions of undocumented immigrants. But my vote would have been for the needless violence of drone strikes and a minimum wage that just isn’t enough to bring people out of poverty, and ultimately, an economic system where people are being systemically kept at the bottom. I full heartedly believe that the world will be a better place with President Hillary Clinton than President Donald Trump. But Hillary exists as more than Donald’s opponent. She exists as a candidate on her own, and she needs to earn her voters as an individual candidate, not the Person Who Isn’t Trump.
Also, remember, simply because Bernie doesn’t win the nomination does not mean you can’t vote for him. He did say at the beginning of the election he would not run as an independent candidate- but that was months ago, when he didn’t fill stadiums with his supporters and have the best odds at beating Trump. Even if he chooses not to continue to fight for the Presidency, you do have the right to write him in on the ballot.
Without a campaign, is it likely he would win from independent voters? Not at all. But it does mean you have the option to practice your right to vote without directly helping any candidate you feel is unethical, or just unpreferred, into the White House.
If you support Hillary Clinton and she wins the primaries, vote for her. If you don’t care about the specific candidates, and only want to see a Democrat (or anyone who isn’t Trump) win, than go ahead and vote for Hillary. But, if you find yourself in a position where you don’t want to support HER specifically, regardless of your feelings for other candidates, don’t vote for her. Know your options, know your rights, and know that no one can force you to support something or someone you don’t want to, no matter how alarmist or patronizing they come across.
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