I'm hearing that some of you would rather vote for Donald Trump than Hillary Clinton for president, and I'm deeply disturbed. I get that you're going to be upset if Bernie Sanders loses the primary. You're feeling the Bern. That's awesome. Bernie Sanders is an amazing person and has shown great moral fortitude in his behavior as a politician. Go ahead and be his champion for the primaries.
But if he loses, if Hillary Clinton is the Democrats' candidate in the general election, you won't vote for her? Why not? She is a product of the equal rights and civil liberties movements. She's a champion of women's rights and a living example of hard work to earn success. Even in the 2008 general election, she was considered to have a more liberal voting record than Barack Obama, and I'm pretty sure you were all happy to vote for him.
Donald Trump is a the son of wealthy, white parents, who was given every advantage and safety net from the day of his birth. He's not a maverick! Yes, he's outside the political system, but all that means is that he hasn't the foggiest idea of how to govern. We have no indication of what he stands for (other than money money money). And let's not even get into the other Republican candidates, all of whom have appalling voting records when it comes to liberal policy, especially for women's rights.
The Republican party is already threatening to stonewall President Obama's nomination to the Supreme Court. Do you not realize the magnitude of this in shaping decades of policy to come? If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency - and nominates a female justice - we have a chance to see near gender-parity on the highest bench in the nation. Have you seen what three women justices can do for a case that deeply affects women's rights? These women - Hillary Clinton included - have smashed through multiple glass ceilings to arrive, cut and bleeding, where they are today. They are going to carry these scars forward and think of them every time they have to rule on policy.
You're going to stand at the polls and say that you'd rather have "the Donald"? You'd rather see us go from a self-made, dark-skinned, ultra-dignified President to a rich, white-skinned, entitled man who wouldn't know dignity if it walked up to him with a badge. Really? And it's not because Hillary Clinton has a uterus, right? It's not because "there's just something about her that's annoying and unlikeable, kind of like your Mom when she bugs you about getting to the gym," right?
(Because if it is that, I'm not sure we can still be friends.)
Okay, so let's suppose you don't agree with a lot that Hillary Clinton stands for. She's hawkish. She pushed for welfare reform, and she's not after Wall Street. Fine. I can respect that you disagree with some of her policies, but if you don't vote for her in the general election, you're basically telling the rest of the country to go to hell because you didn't get the candidate of your dreams.
That's...well, frankly, that's childish. Petulant. And short-sighted. Because you didn't get the toy you wanted, you're going to smash every other toy. No. I can't believe this would happen. You are all better people than this. You're voting-aged adults. You can see past the primary to the future of the country that you live in, and you know that nobody ever gets exactly what they want.
So please, my Bern-feeling fellow liberals, when you cast your ballot in November, act your age.
