I was a Republican governor of Pa. I'm voting for Joe Biden. Opinion
Philadelphia Inquirer
I will cast my vote for Joe Biden on Nov. 3. It will be my first vote for a Democratic candidate for president of the United States. But it is not the first time I have said no to Donald Trump. I urge my fellow Pennsylvanians to join me.
I actually consider it a point of personal pride that Im recognized for being among the first Republicans to reject Donald Trump. It was way back in December 2015. I told NBCs Chuck Todd that day that I could never support Trump. I said then that he was an embarrassment to the Republican Party and our country. I said he belittles, demeans, and ridicules people who disagree with him, and that Ive never thought that loud, obnoxious, and simpleminded solutions to complex problems are the kind of qualities we want in a president. I believe that earned me my first of several Trump tweets of indignation.
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Vice President Biden and I both know that supporting his candidacy now certainly wont dissuade me from speaking out later when I disagree with him. But we surely will do so with civility and respect, not with childish name-calling and Twitter tirades. Joe Biden has the experience and empathy necessary to help us navigate not only the pandemic but also other issues that have fractured our nation, including social injustice, income inequality, and immigration reform.
Whether the Republican Party can restore itself or not, I dont know. Whether it wants to or not, I dont know that either. But what matters to me is that the core group of conservative principles I held as a young man when I cast my first vote decades ago are with me today. They are the same principles exhorted by my partys forebears Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan. Those principles have been indispensable to me in deciding to extend my hand of support to Joe Biden, who I believe absolutely must be Americas next president.