If you know me at all, you know that I am a Democrat. A far left, bleeding heart liberal pacifist Democrat. I think the risk of a few welfare cheats is a small price to pay to make sure the people who really need help get it. I would never have an abortion, but believe I only have the right to make that decision for me. I support the separation of church and state and Civil Rights as fervently as I oppose guns and war. C’mon… give peace a chance.
In other words, if I were a few years older, and didn’t hate camping and folk music, I would have made one helluva hippy.
So you can imagine how great the last few months have been for me. As the election year unfolded, I felt a combination of joy and déjà vu. Just as in 2008, two great Democratic candidates have emerged, and I have the happy dilemma of deciding which one will get my vote in the primary, delighted in the knowledge that I can support whomever ultimately gets the nomination.
However, in the midst of my reverie, Donald Trump threw his hat into the Republican ring. I’ve always found Trump to be an obnoxious, condescending blowhard who thinks his money and fame give him the right to treat those he considers his subordinates (translation: everyone) like dirt. At first I didn’t know if his candidacy was delusion fueled by a monumental ego, a carefully-orchestrated publicity stunt, or both.
I can also understand why people wanted to hear what he had to say. Tired of politicians, many wanted to hear what a businessman-in-chief would do differently. Which was all well and good, until Trump opened his mouth.
Trump is an equal-opportunity offender. I could make a list, but you’ve heard it all. He blusters on and on with no regard for facts. He wants to close our borders to refugees, Muslims, and Mexicans. He has publicly demeaned women, minorities and the disabled. In fact, the only group that seems to have escaped his wrath is the Ku Klux Klan.
In recent days, he has called for violence against those exercising their first amendment rights to protest his candidacy, and has summarily had minorities removed — usually with unnecessary force — from his rallies. He is the worst kind of bully… but he’s much more than that.
He used to be just a late-night joke, but it’s not funny anymore. Donald Trump isn’t a harmless Archie Bunker. He is an Adolph Hitler in the making, right down to his loyal followers displaying the straight-armed salute, if not the swastika.
Since I live in Illinois, but not Chicago, most of my friends are Republicans, and all of them are sane, rational people. Those to whom I have spoken are also horrified by Trump and his inexplicable success. I feel for them as they see valid candidates in their party — some who have already dropped out of the race — denied the opportunity to verbalize legitimate platforms in the midst of the Trump lunacy and its 24 / 7 coverage by the media.
Okay. So I’ve made it clear how I feel about Trump, and that I’m a confirmed Democrat. So what’s up with my headline? How could he make me vote Republican?
Well, I had a revelation the other day, and a scary one at that. What if Trump had somehow hijacked the Democratic party instead of the GOP? What if sane, rational Democrats were the ones watching as he was winning delegates and eliminating viable candidates in our party? What would I do?
What I would do is put the good of the country ahead of any political affiliations, and cross party lines. In this nightmare scenario, if Donald Trump was the Democratic nominee for President, I would make sure I made it to the polls so I could vote for whomever was running against him.
I fervently hope it doesn’t come down to that in November for my Republican friends. But if it does, I hope and pray they feel compelled to consider doing the same.
Leave a Reply