Hill Yes

I will vote for Hillary Clinton.  That should come as no surprise to those who have been reading this blog and Tardy Belle before this one.  But I live in Texas and that means most of my friends and neighbors, people I know and like, will either enthusiastically vote for Donald Trump or will vote for him as the lesser of two perceived evils.  This post is for my conservative friends, the folks who plan to vote for Trump, and serves less as an apology and more as an explanation of my Hillary support.  I believe I am not crazy and it is important to me that you know that I am not crazy.

I start with the following assumptions, any one of which you may challenge, but to practice full disclosure I must declare these up front.  Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are both human beings.  Ambitious human beings.  Neither are perfect.  Both have proven their humanity through a series of mistakes and half-truths and misdirections.  If we wait for a candidate who is perfect we will never vote.  Therefore, as I make a decision about voting, I discount the claims from the other side about the evil in each candidate.  I set their human traits aside.  I set aside the Republican talk about emails and Benghazi and the Democratic talk about walls, discrimination and tax returns.  I set their looks aside.  I set their ethnicity aside.  I set their gender aside.  They are human.  That should not be a variable in my decision making unless it is an extreme example of flawed human behavior like child molestation, murder, etc. 

So, unlike many of my fellow Americans, I do not believe in voting for the “best person”.  (I think it is real progress that we used to say we will vote for the best man.  Not this year.)  All candidates are human.  And it is impossible to really know a candidate.  We may know what their campaign headquarters wants us to know about both the candidate and the competition, but I really do not know Trump or Clinton as people.  To say I will vote for this person over that person because they are a better person is ludicrous.  To say I will vote for this person because of their gender or race or religious belief is an admission of prejudice, pre-judging, a practice I will not support.  And so, if I will not attempt to select a candidate based on what I think of them as people, how shall I choose?

The key variable in the selection process for me is philosophy.  I see myself as a protestant Christian.  When I move to a new town I do not check out the Catholic churches, the synagogues, or the mosques.  I check out protestant churches even if the most dynamic, impressive pastor around is Jewish I will not attend that church as it is not of my faith.  It is the same with politics.  I will not vote for the person based on affability or my personal connectivity to them, it will be the person who believes as I believe.

There are two major prevailing beliefs or philosophies in our nation, conservative and liberal.  Once I know if I am a conservative or a liberal, candidate selection and support becomes simple.  I see these philosophies through the following lens.  Both philosophies look to a system to resolve conflict, make decisions and promote health and well-being.  The conservative philosophy looks to the individual first to solve his or her own problems, and then to the market place to resolve all other issues and provide all other services.  The system conservatives fear the most and oppose the most is the “government.”  They oppose the growth of government and the intervention of government and the services provided by the government.  They would much prefer that individuals take care of themselves and that free enterprise take care of everything else.

Liberals on the other hand look to the government to solve problems, resolve conflicts and provide services.  Liberals do not fear government intervention, in fact, they support it in areas of injustice and poverty.  Liberals do not oppose the market in the ways that conservatives oppose the government, but liberals are skeptical of the market because those who make market decisions are not elected by the voters and those who control the market are more interested in making money than providing for the common good.  Hence, liberals see the market as immoral, an entity to be monitored.  If one can make money by cutting corners on production, paying labor less money, moving production overseas, ignoring consumer and worker safety, etc., etc. then the market will do so in the name of monetary gain regardless of the human cost .  Liberals will support market oversight and regulation, they will support providing aid to the hungry and shelter for the homeless and mental health support for the disturbed.  Liberals will support governmental provided services such as public education, law enforcement, water certification, food inspection, highway construction, and universal health care while conservatives tend to see all those programs as boondoggles at the expense of the tax payer.  If the government provided fewer services it would be smaller and cheaper leaving more money in the hands of those who have more money to begin with and need those services the least.

(As an aside, several things have fascinated me over the years.  First, conservatives perceive themselves to be the American super patriots while attacking their own government, shrinking their own government, and even shutting down their own government.  Second, despite all the research on government provided services, conservatives still believe that public sector services should be provided by the private sector.  They support charter schools and private sector prisons, etc.  And most amazing to me of all is that citizens who are employed by the government consider themselves conservatives despite the fact that their checks come from the government and from tax payers.  Teachers and law enforcement folks who consistently vote conservatively clearly must support the reactionary interpretation of the second amendment or they could not do such a good job of shooting themselves in the foot.)

As you know, or may have guessed, I am a liberal.  I have seen first-hand what happens when market forces are not monitored, when schools are not funded, when food inspection is not thorough, when work place safety is not enforced and when industry lays off American workers to move overseas to make more profit.  Our economical crash in 1929 happened after 8 years of conservative policies that were summarized by the expression, “What is good for business is good for the USA.”  Our economical crash in 2008 happened after 8 years of conservative policies that dramatically reduced government oversight of Wall Street and the banking industry.  Clearly every time we do that we head for a crash because the market is not ethical, it is not moral, and it will do whatever makes the most money for some very few people.

I love our country.  I love our government.  I love knowing I can turn on the faucet and drink the water.  I can safely buy meat and vegetables.  I can drive a car with required safety and anti-pollution features.  I can apply for work, attend school, open a bank account, and/or buy property without concern regarding my race, gender or religious preference.  I love driving down the interstate highways and seeing power grids.  I do not feel as though my freedom has been limited by the fact that I stop on red and go on green.  Yep, I’m a liberal. 

I understand if you make more than $350,000 per year voting conservative may be tempting in a self-serving sort of way.  If you make less than that and vote conservatively you are hurting yourself, but that is your prerogative.  I understand that if you think the main role of government should be to provide for the common defense and the government should get out of every other facet that you are a conservative.  If so, it is my hope that you have the funds to provide all your own health care and safe water and safe food and private education and your own law enforcement.  I do not understand if you are a conservative and oppose human beings coming to the this country who are responding either to the market, i.e., they come for more economical opportunity, or people who come here pursued and persecuted by terrorists and madmen who rule other governments.  It would seem to me that conservative philosophy would most support an influx of cheap labor and those who are persecuted by their governments.  But it is the liberals who have a hard time labeling human beings born on planet earth as aliens.

Bottom line is to whom do you turn to solve our problems, resolve conflicts, set foreign policy, and implement strategies to improve life in America?  If it is mostly private sector and you fear the government you are likely a conservative.  If it is the government and you believe we should monitor the private sector you are most likely a liberal.

So, Donald Trump is for the most part a conservative.  Hillary Clinton for the most part is a liberal.  Trump is not as conservative as Barry Goldwater, nor is Hillary as liberal as Bernie Sanders.  But Trump leans right and Clinton leans left.  My decision to support Hillary is based on my philosophy and the fact that she is most likely to implement my philosophy.  If that sounds logical to you, then you know I am not crazy.

If not, if you believe you should vote based on your guts and your bias, then I probably still seem crazy to you.  Just know, however, I may not be the crazy one.