I will not vote for Trump in 2024, and it is not just because of his racist or xenophobic remarks

[AgnosticBoy]

Many of my Democrat friends seem to be stuck on Trump. They are pushing me to not be open to voting for him at all. The main reason is because of their belief that Trump is a racist.

Initially, I felt this would kind of putting me in a bind because if I say I'd vote for him, or that I'm even open to it, then I some of my friends might accuse me of supporting racism.

But then I got back to thinking of my philosophy on politics which is largely what keeps me as an independent. My view is that both parties are corrupt and have problems. While many Democrats may focus on race and see that issue as being a deal breaker when it comes to considering a Republican candidate, but on the other side, the Democrats allowing things that some view as immoral or dangerous, may be a deal breaker for some (esp. Christians) to consider voting for a Democrat candidate.

So that leaves me voting in part for the candidate who I have the least disagreement with or who doesn't have as many negatives. That will inevitably leave me voting for someone even when I do NOT totally agree with their views. But I do try to balance things out by making sure I vote for the other party for other offices. In other words, I like having a government with no dominate party. That helps keep both parties in check in that none of them have the votes to cater to the extreme views of their party.


For the record, I will not vote Trump because of his poor judgement and thinking when it came to his election lost. He doesn't want to accept his lost. He now reminds me of a conspiracy theorist and I think that's dangerous to have in the White House. Of course, the racism and xenophobia or his attempts to appeal to that crowd is wrong, but his poor thinking on the election pushes me to the point to not vote for him at all. The negatives outweigh the positives in my subjective valuation.

Any thoughts or questions are welcomed!

 

[Mr. Johnson]

Your attempt to equate racism with policy differences doesn't add up. No one would dispute that there are policy differences between the Democrats and Republicans. What both sides should agree on is that racism and many other things are evil.

If you don't want to be seen supporting racism then you shouldn't vote for a racist, period.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

Your attempt to equate racism with policy differences doesn't add up. No one would dispute that there are policy differences between the Democrats and Republicans.

Both racism and bad policy are bad or wrong for society. It seems that you're claiming that I should only look for racism when choosing who NOT to vote for or that racism should be the biggest negative factor. If that's your position then that is your personal standard. In my view, national security matters more than racism because if we have a nuclear weapons war with Russia then there won't be any race to worry about.

If you don't want to be seen supporting racism then you shouldn't vote for a racist, period.

Well again, I don't just consider racism when determining who not to vote for. Why not also consider other forms of bigotry and bad policy?

In general, I try not to vote for someone when their negatives outweigh their positives, especially in comparison to their rival candidate. I wish there was a scenario where I could avoid voting for a racist and someone with bad policy, but unfortunately that is not practical unless I just don't vote at all.

If I vote for a racist, it is not because I like or support racism, but rather it's because there is no good alternative (as in the other option has OTHER negatives, even if those negatives don't involve racism).

 

[Mr. Johnson]

Both racism and bad policy are bad or wrong for society.

Glad you agree but then you said thusmmm

If I vote for a racist, it is not because I like or support racism,

If you vote for a racist then you are supporting racism. You are putting a racist in power.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

If you vote for a racist then you are supporting racism. You are putting a racist in power.

I see your point about putting a racist person in power, but again, that doesn't mean that I support his racist policies. Nearly every political candidate I've voted for has some policies that I disagree with. In fact, even if I voted for a racist candidate, I could support the polices I agree with (the non-racist ones) and oppose those I don't. One way I can oppose bad policies of someone I voted for is by protesting/opposing that person's bad policies. Another way I can oppose them is by trying to elect someone from a different political party for a different office (e.g. Democrat Bill Clinton as president and Republican Newt Gingrich as Senate majority leader). That would certainly help balance things out since neither party would have enough votes to become extreme. In contrast, a government dominated by one party will usually become extreme since there's no one from the other side to challenge them or expose their bad policy.

 

[Mr. Johnson]

That would certainly help balance things out since neither party would have enough votes to become extreme.

Or you can vote for the non racist Democrats and support their good plans and oppose the bad ones.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

Or you can vote for the non racist Democrats and support their good plans and oppose the bad ones.

Let's not even limit ourselves to just two parties. Instead of just voting Republican or Democrat, which is just a play of musical chairs every 2 to 6 years (that's right, it's a game!), why not also vote for candidates of other parties? Have you considered the Forward party?