I have been interested in presidential politics since I was eight years old when John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon competed against each other in 1960. If eight-year-olds could vote, I would’ve voted for John Kennedy. However, it would not have disappointed or upset me greatly if Nixon had won. I always had respect for anyone who was nominated by their Party to run for President. That respect extended until 2020. Even in 2016, I understood there was an antipathy towards Hillary Clinton. I really didn’t understand it, but I could grudgingly concede a small rationale for some people voting for Donald Trump.
I certainly don’t feel that way today. There is absolutely no argument or rationale, politically, morally, ethically. or policy wise to vote for Donald Trump and for that matter, just about anybody in the Republican party. I consider Barack Obama a great president. However, if he had lost to either John McCain or Mitt Romney, I would have been disappointed, but not devastated. Both John McCain and Mitt Romney were certainly qualified to be president.
I was not a fan of the George W. Bush/Dick Cheney administration. But I never had the fear that they would try to overthrow our democracy and turn it into a dictatorship. Nixon, as crazy as he was in the last few days of his presidency, had no intention of becoming a dictator. He had at least a modicum respect for the democratic process, our laws and the institutions of government.
I honestly cannot conceive of one rational argument for the election of Donald Trump. It’s scary that between 45 to 50% of potential voters would select him for president. Some of his supporters that I have spoken with don’t even bother trying to justify why Trump should be president. What they normally do is just attack the Democrats and come up with all types of conspiracy theories on how Trump is being persecuted.
if Joe Biden had run, I would’ve understood why some people could not have voted for him. I was also concerned about his age and cognitive abilities. However, with the nomination of Kamala Harris, there are no reasons for Democrats, Independents, and even Republicans to stay home and not vote for her. I truly hope that the positive feelings and enthusiasm for her and the Democratic ticket will last until election day and hopefully there will be a landslide that will swamp Trumpism and fascism.
Esot-eric 