My Vote in This Election

And a different understanding of the "swing" vote

So much has been said about this election.  I’ve written a lot.  I suppose many of you think I’ve been less personal, less revealing of my own position than is appropriate.  I’ve wanted to use this opportunity to be insightful rather than simply partisan. But I do have strong feelings about the candidates and neither in my opinion is deserving of uncritical praise. A long experience in the classroom has taught me to be as analytical and objective as possible in a conversation with friends about issues that deserve careful reflection.

I have two more things to say and then perhaps I’ll write about gardening or share a little recent poetry.

The first is that I see this election as an interrupted moment in a realignment of partisan identities.  What matters and what will determine the outcome is how two important parts of the electorate (both Republican) will vote, groups that I see as the real independents (or undecideds) in this election.  One are the traditional Republicans who are increasingly finding that their interests, as the two Parties realign, are supported more by the Democratic Party than by the Republican Party.  (This is about perception as well as reality.)  The others are Republicans that are committed to finding room for themselves in the coalition of voters that will in their mind become the new post-Trump Republican Party. They believe that their interests are still being supported by that Party, but they are reluctantly to vote for Trump, the apparent champion of dangerous and/or offensive policy and ideas.

Their vote will determine the outcome of this election.  More, I think, than the intensive ground games of the two Parties. Some part of these group of wavering Republicans will swing one way or the other.  And I don’t believe that all of them have made up their minds.

Turning to the second thing I want to say in this column. I want to emphasize what I regard as the most important issue in this election.  I know in the past I have said the economy, and I still see that as critical, and if Trump is to be believed and the stars align to give him the opportunity (House and Senate majorities), I think we will see less growth, renewed inflation, and more income inequality.

However, I have come to see a greater threat in this election to the America I learned to love as a young man and have supported all my life.  We are a proud nation of immigrants.  We should be celebrating our history as a refuge for the poor and oppressed of many nations.  It has been a lodestar of our pilgrimage, that has crossed many barriers and avoided many false roads.  We have survived bitter struggles over just this understanding of who we are as a nation.   We can make no other claim to being an “exceptional people.” 

I can never vote for a candidate who rallies this country against immigrants, calling them virtually a sub-species (poisoning our DNA), calling them vermin, their countries of origin “shitholes,” totally disregarding their contributions to our life.  I understand the distinction between legal and illegal immigration. That is a separate issue and one that can be addressed by a humane and well-funded bipartisan rewrite of our immigration laws.   I’m focused on the raw, hateful language and the use of this issue to further personal ambitions. 

Yes, nativist reactions to the “other” have been a part of political warfare for our entire history.  We have fought these battles and largely won.  We have understood that scapegoating any group of Americans, citizens and new arrivals, internal migrations and racial, lifestyle, gender and religious citizens who should be judged by their character and their contributions to our common life, is despicable.  It has been a poison in our national life for over 300 years. That past history only makes our present battle more critical.  This form of nationalism is like a disease that we can’t eradicate, only treat and try to cure.  We can’t let it spread.  We must attack the contasion.  We have weapons against this evil. Weapons we have used before. Our Christian values, our faith in our friends and neighbors, our willingness to speak out and organize, and always the final weapon, our vote. 

I see valid reasons to question the likely governing policies of both a Harris and a Trump administration.  You do as well.  On these we will agree and disagree.  Few things are as uncertain as our attempts to predict both future actions and their consequences. 

But, I have no hesitation, no doubts about who to support and where I stand when it comes to hateful bigotry, and the repudiation of the America I love. 

Substat gives you two choices to comment. You can write directly to me or leave comment for everyone to see. and comment on, that reads the blog. I try to answer both and am glad to carry on a conversation. Sometimes I am unintentionally obscure in what I write. I welcome a chance to rephrase or even revise what I was trying to say.

I’m glad when you think these short columns are worth sharing. I don’t want to “convince” anyone; I do want to jar a little and hopefully to start a new train of thought.

I know we all get too many items in our inboxes. I understand why anyone would like to cut back on the “flood.” Adding another is very questionable. Still these are free and I try to keep them short and I don’t blame anyone for giving them a very quick read.

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