Last edited Fri Feb 7, 2020, 10:23 AM - Edit history (1)
2. He was the first in history to vote to convict a member of his own party.
3. He shamed the GOP publicly. He showed them what moral courage in the face of adversity looks like.
4. As has been noted, he stole the news cycle, and Trump has already set the wheels of revenge in motion against him.
I could go on, but everyone here knows what he did, and what was at stake.
I ask you and others here to please consider the ramifications of not accepting anyone into our ranks (even temporarily, like Romney) who doesn't toe the line in every aspect like some want to see.
This is why I'm voting for Joe Biden. We can hate and mistrust the GOP for so many good reasons but when we're successful in November our future Democratic president is going to have to work with a bipartisan Congress because... well... that's how our government works, for good and for evil, and it has ever been thus. There will always be work to do.
I've read many stories on Twitter about people leaving the GOP. Public figures, some of them, and some of them will be our friends and neighbors and co-workers. Some on our side of the aisle will excoriate them because they didn't leave soon enough, they should have been smarter/more compassionate/more aware/less brainwashed/on and on and on or they would have left sooner, before Trump, because of Bush, during Reagan, couldn't they see, why didn't they...
How do I know this? I'm in my 50s. I was raised in a staunchly conservative Republican family. Our friends were Republican. Our church friends were Republican. I was Republican because that's all I knew, I believed what I was taught, and what I was taught didn't include questioning authority or thinking for myself, because believe me, that acceptance of authority is an intrinsic part of conservatism. I left the GOP in 2012. I wish with all my heart now that I could say I voted for President Obama and I miss him terribly now.
But I didn't not vote for him because of any reason at all that was connected to racism, it was 100% because I'd never in my life (and I'd voted in every presidential election since I was old enough to vote for Reagan) voted for a pro-choice candidate. Ideologically, good religious conservatives simply didn't cross that line. Those unfamiliar with growing up conservative have NO IDEA how deeply and strongly held is that conviction. I know there are a lot of reasons for that conviction, not all of them based in concern for the unborn. There's authoritarianism, sexism, misogyny, lack of compassion, lack of respect for autonomy... but that's not the point I'm making right now. It's absolutely THE reason that religious conservatives will stick with Trump through hell (we've been there for 3 years now) or high water. They see him as God's imperfect instrument and those in power now are using that belief (highly apocalyptic) to keep and hold their vote for 2020.
In order to defeat Trump we need a candidate who's willing to reach across the aisle and bring in the people who regret their first vote for Trump. I think Kamala Harris would have done so, she was my first choice. Woman, woman of color, strong, compassionate, intelligent, capable, YOUNG. I think Biden can pull it off - if he chooses Harris or Warren as his running mate. The vice presidential candidate is of significant importance this election, but ultimately, Trump is only afraid of Biden. This is what we know, that Trump sees Biden as his kryptonite.
I voted for Hillary in 2016 and all Democratic candidates straight down the ballot. I'm ready to do the same again, this year and every year I have left. And I welcome anyone willing to take that step across the aisle even if it's only on one issue, or one vote, or one election. Let's take what we can get and give them more reasons to take a second step, or a third. The MAGA are mostly lost forever, but what won me over was having many conversations with liberals who rationally, kindly, and patiently won me over. They didn't do it by beating me over the head because I'd been stupid enough to be a Republican for so many years. I really, really, hate the idea of us going too low because that's what TrumpMAGA does and that's the only thing that works now. We lose something important when we go that low, that's hard to get back.
We need the center to join us if we're going to beat Trump in 2020, hold the House and flip the Senate. We can do this, but we won't do it by circling our wagons and setting up checkpoints.
Sorry for the long post.
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