#ImWithHer

She’s not a perfect candidate. But neither is she the caricature painted by her critics on both the left and right. She’s neither a corporatist warmonger nor a shrieking socialist harpy. The answer, as usual with politics, lies somewhere in the muddy waters of the middle. I do know that she is incredibly experienced, capable, and fights for progressive causes that I mostly align with. She has withstood a quarter century of attacks, often unfounded, always responding with class and taking responsibility for mistakes. I’d rather have a president who admits and learns from mistakes than one who is incapable of ever taking responsibility for anything. She’s not flashy. She doesn’t orate as well as Bill or Barack. She is, however, a dedicated public servant who believes in using responsible government actions to help people. In these ways, she’s not so different than myself. This week her nomination capped a convention of hope, optimism, diversity, and real patriotism – not the shallow, empty nationalism of a narrow-minded movement in its dying days.

About that other side? Older acquaintances know that I used to identify as a Republican. I left the party for many reasons during the Bush era, and after the despicable display in Cleveland last week, I’ve never been so glad I did. The GOP has nominated a TV celebrity who busted into politics riding a conspiracy theory and who has harnessed dark forces of nativism, fear, and paranoia to create a force that is truly scary and a genuine threat to our way of government. He and the party he now leads have decided to win through division, scapegoating, hate, and unyielding authority. Only he can solve your problems. Only he can make those “other” people, who have turned America into some kind of nightmarish hellhole that I’ve surely never observed, pay for whatever it is they did to you. These are not the values of respect, individual worth, dignity of all persons, optimism, and the greatness of America that I learned growing up on the plains of Kansas AS A REPUBLICAN. These are the tenets of unbridled authoritarianism without conscience, that which relies on fear to survive and prosper, for only Dear Leader can protect you from the bad people. This is not our future, this is a vain attempt to return us to some mythical past that never actually existed and will only bring suffering as a result. This ideology and its standard-bearer must be utterly destroyed.

And yes, I have a personal bias against Donald Trump. I was recently welcomed into a wonderful Mexican-American family. They have lived here for decades, work hard, contribute to the community, and have a sense of family much stronger than I’ve seen in many Anglo families. But, in large part due to the nativism that Trump and his ilk have fostered, I know that none of that would matter if they were overheard speaking Spanish on the streets of a small prairie town. They would be dirty Mexicans who should speak English or get ready to be booted over Dear Leader’s glorious wall. They would not be able to be judged on their own individual merits but rather would be forced to battle against a set of preconceived notions that have been fed to the masses by Trump and right-wing media. Only if they passed that hurdle could they possibly be perceived as “some of the good ones.” That is categorically unfair and I will not have my in-laws treated that way. They certainly don’t treat this awkward gringo like that. It is insufficient excuse-peddling to say “Trump just wants to secure the border” or some such; immigration reform is a policy issue that could be debated without reference to Mexican rapists or cantaloupe-calved drug mules. But that’s not what Donald Trump and his allies want, is it? They want to divide and conquer, and scapegoat various “other” groups in their quest for authoritarian power. This is America. Through the force of our ideals, arms, and allies, we threw such ideologies onto the ash heap of history in the last century. Let’s not see it come to fruition here.

What about third parties? While I appreciate a lot of Libertarian positions and I’d never turn down having a beer with Ron Swanson, I don’t share their apparent belief that government has a monopoly on the abuse of power. Blame it on my career in public service, but I’m more of a Leslie Knope (if you don’t get these references, you should watch Parks and Recreation). I’m not a Green either, as certain elements of the far left are just as anti-science or anti-pragmatist as the far right (and I’d fail their purity tests at every turn). While I certainly believe America has room for more than two major parties, that’s not how our system is currently set up, and there is zero question which of the two candidates who could win is better suited for the job.

It’s common to rail about “the most important election EVAR” every four years, but this time it’s true – at least in my lifetime. This isn’t an ordinary presidential election where yes, I would probably vote for the Democrat but wouldn’t lose too much sleep if the Republican won. I indirectly work for a Republican governor, after all (one that Trump trashed and lied about). It’s not Susana Martinez or John Kasich on the ballot, though. It’s someone who espouses empty-headed inflammatory rhetoric that could someday – even if he loses – bring real harm to people I care about. It’s someone who is the childish embodiment of every bully I ever encountered in school. It’s someone who, having just turned 35, I’m now officially more qualified to be President than. This election pits perhaps the most qualified candidate for the presidency ever against a raging, narcissistic, know-nothing, xenophobic buffoon. That’s not even a contest. In November I will proudly cast my vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton.