Voting in 2016?

(The following is the personal opinion of Don Ossewaarde. I do not speak for any organization or campaign.)

2016 is not a good year for voters with strong conservative principles. We actually had a few outstanding candidates at the start of the primaries, but for various reasons, the Republican primary process has selected Mr. Trump as the party candidate. Trump is a terribly flawed candidate. He does not have a conservative political record, but he claims to have converted to a conservative Republican. The proofs of that conversion are difficult to find.

For Christians, it is even more difficult to consider supporting Mr. Trump. He has a long record of very public moral failures. He has married three times, and divorced twice. His adulterous affairs were widely publicized at the time in the media. In his books, he brags about his immoral conquests, and he has never publicly repented of those sins. His most prominent business enterprises are gambling casinos, where sinful activities besides gambling are promoted. Just a few years ago, he was “very pro-choice”, even when discussing partial birth abortion. He says he has changed his position, but he is admittedly a man with “flexible” principles. As a candidate, he has many other deep flaws.

The Democrat party has nominated Mrs. Clinton. Her record tells us that she would continue or accelerate the socialist policies of the Obama administration. What should we do on election day? Some say we should stay home, since neither candidate is worthy of our vote. Others say that Trump is so wicked, we should actually vote for Clinton to protect America from Trump. Some advise voting for a third party candidate, or casting a write-in vote. Some say, “hold your nose and vote straight party” or, “Vote against if you can’t vote for.” In the end, you must make your own choice, guided by your principles and your conscience, but here are some ideas to consider.

If we study the Constitution and American history, we come to realize the plain fact that we have a two-party system. This may or may not have been the intent of the founders, but it is a simple fact of mathematics. The Constitution requires that a president must win a majority (50%+1) of electoral college votes. Many parliamentary systems in Europe and elsewhere require only a plurality. (Whoever gets the most votes wins, even if it’s only 20%.) Such a system encourages the growth of many diverse parties, and tends to splinter the people into many factions. Our system tends to bring everybody into one party or the other, and builds a majority with positions that most of the country can agree with.

The time for the people to set the agenda for their party is during the primary process. It is a good thing to have many candidates and let the party hash out their differences in the primaries. That is the time for the most principled activists in the party to rally support for their favorite candidate. This year, the party leaders did a poor job of organizing the process to select a candidate who reflects the historic principles of the party. But now the process is effectively over, and a candidate has been selected. What do we do now?

I have had this conversation with friends and family many times over the years. I was told not to vote for Bob Dole or George Bush (not conservative enough), or John McCain (weak on abortion), or Mitt Romney (a Mormon), or many other variations on the same theme. Each of those men had issues about which I did not agree, but we have to admit that any of them would have been better than the men who defeated them. In retrospect, do you really think it was better to have had Bill Clinton and Barack Obama? Would it have been better to have accepted Al Gore, Michael Dukakis, or John Kerry? Those who did not vote Republican helped to put Clinton and Obama into the White House. I often told my friends and family, "You always need to vote. Sometimes you can vote for, sometimes you have to vote against."

Although Trump is a horrible candidate, it is my opinion that Hillary would be much worse. How so? As a Republican, Trump will be influenced by the party, however weak that influence may be. Hillary will never respond to any kind of Republican party influence. In May, Trump spoke to the National Rifle Association. They endorsed him. He said all the right things, even if it was all written down for him and did not sound very sincere. He is a man of such low personal character and flexible political principles that it is difficult to believe what he says. That being said, he was influenced by the NRA to make a strong 2nd amendment speech. He wants their votes enough to hang around with them, and we can hope that he is better for being with them. Hillary will never be touched by the influence of the NRA like Trump was.

The Republican congress has passed many good bills that Obama would not sign, including the repeal of Obamacare. Hillary will not sign those laws, but Trump might. Hillary would appoint four or more justices to the Supreme Court. All would be dedicated liberal activists. Trump may not do much better, but he has already consulted with conservatives at the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society to produce a very good list of potential nominees. Whether or not Trump actually appoints such good men may be an open question, but Mrs. Clinton will never consult with conservative think tanks when she makes her appointments.

From now to election day, Trump needs to hear from conservatives who say, "We would like to vote for you, but you are going to have to give us something to support. Talk some conservative talk. Talk about the Constitution, about limited government, about spending cuts. Throw us a bone!" Trump's principles are obviously malleable, but he can be influenced. Who knows, he may actually keep some of his promises about things like immigration and the military.

I would not argue with someone who has serious convictions of conscience, but history proves to us that staying home or writing in is going to put the Democrat into the presidency. If your conscience cannot allow you to vote for Donald Trump, can it allow you to not vote against Hillary Clinton? It is the cruel fact of a two party system that a Republican vote is the only effective vote against her. If "lesser of two evils" means anything, we should hold our noses and vote Republican.

A friend recently said to me that the founding fathers probably never saw this day coming. Actually, they really did. They had a conviction about the sinful nature of man. Many of them wrote comments about the impossibility of the survival of our republic without Christian virtue. The Constitution has so many checks and balances on power because they assumed that people would abuse power. At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, George Mason of Virginia could foresee that the federal government as a whole would abuse its power. Federal elections would not likely fix that problem. Anarchy is not the answer, either. He insisted, and all agreed, that the Article 5 amendment process be changed to allow the States to propose and ratify amendments, in order to check the federal power. They foresaw that this day would come, and they gave us the constitutional tools to set things right, if we have the courage to use them.

Trump might win, but he is not the trump I am listening for.

God help us...

Don Ossewaarde

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(Here is a letter I wrote to the Trump campaign in June)

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/contact

Mr. Trump, Congratulations on securing enough delegates to insure nomination on the first ballot at the convention.

I am a constitutional conservative. To be honest, Ted Cruz was my first choice, but he did not get enough delegates to secure the nomination, so I have to reconsider my voting options. I would like to support you with my vote, but in some ways you have made it difficult for me and other constitutional conservatives.

My research indicates to me that you do not have a solid record of conservatism. I would like to give you the benefit of the doubt on your political conversion, but I am not hearing true conservatism when I listen to your speeches and interviews. It seems that, having secured sufficient delegates, you are moving more toward the center-left to attract undecided independents. That is conventional wisdom, but it usually loses. (e.g. McCain, Romney, etc.) I know you hate to lose.

Ronald Reagan was the last candidate to excite me and my fellow conservatives. He spoke without apology about freedom, the Constitution, free market capitalism, smaller government, private property rights, lower taxes, fewer regulations, and many other principles that made America great. I hear you say good things about controlling immigration and strong defense, but I am waiting to hear more Reagan-like ideas and policies.

I might vote for you simply to oppose Mrs. Clinton, but I would much rather be able to cast an enthusiastic vote for a principled Conservative. In the midst of your busy campaign schedule, I would urge you to do some homework. You have been a successful businessman, but you now should give some serious thought to the study of statesmanship. May I recommend some books for you to read? Start with the Constitution itself. You ought to read it at least once a week, maybe every day. As you read this simple but remarkable document, ask yourself, "Does the federal government even come close to staying within these limits of power? How much of what they do is blatantly unconstitutional? How do my policies conform to the limited powers of the presidency?" Second, please read the short essay "Not yours to give", about the famous congressman Davy Crockett. It is a wonderful statement of opposition to government largesse. You should also read "Liberty and Tyranny" by Mark Levin, which is a clear and comprehensive statement of the principles of constitutional conservatism. Another very helpful book for you would be "Economic Sophisms", written by Frederic Bastiat in 1845. He was a French legislator who argued brilliantly for free trade and private property at a time when France was turning to Socialism. Most importantly, I hope you are reading a portion of the Bible every day. Whether or not George Washington actually said so, it is true that, "It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible."

I will continue to watch and listen to you until election day in November. I hope to hear great American principles of liberty enunciated by our Republican nominee. I certainly would hate to become discouraged enough to stay home on election day. I would hate to become so disappointed with our nominee, that I would feel the need to cast a self-defeating protest vote for a third party. The stakes are very high this year. You were not my first choice, but you can get my vote if you will embrace the ideas of the founders. As Reagan proved, these principles of liberty attract all Americans, no matter which group they belong to.

I will be praying for you. May God bless you and give you His wisdom.

Sincerely, Donald Ossewaarde