1. What do Independents think about Trump's recent guilty verdict?
Based on my research, I believe that Trump was likely guilty of falsifying business records. This
CBS article explains how Trump knew that he was making payments to Cohen as part of hush money payments but listed the payments as something else. So the verdict seems reasonable enough. What I don't like is that this case seemed to be used as a weapon and not just for justice. In my view, justice should never be weaponized, although I wouldn't accept the alternative of just letting someone go of a crime either.
2. If you are an Independent, would you vote for a convicted felon, like Trump?
I thought about this and it sounded very bad at first for someone to still vote for Trump. But as an independent myself, I'm very keen on the double-standards and selective standards in politics, and I got to thinking that even if Trump is a felon, that doesn't make all other politicians good either. When only
about 20% of the American population trust the federal government most of the time, then I'd say there's a problem, and I'd argue that the trust has been damaged. So while some want to say that people shouldn't vote for Trump because he's bad, my response is that most politicians are bad (some get caught, some get away with it if prosecutors don't press the issue). If I were to go based on integrity and for someone who is really for the people and only that, then I couldn't vote at all.
Based on the above points, I can say that I am open to voting for a felon. Some additional considerations would be the type of crime committed, a change in behavior (the person has stopped committing crimes and has shown to be law abiding citizen), and it would also depend on their policies. Personally, hush money of false records for Trump's business is not something that would keep me from voting for him, esp. if he's a first-time offender. My biggest barrier voting for him would be that he would seek revenge and engage in Lawfare against his opponents.
