Photo credit: Michael Vadon (CC-By-SA 4.0)
Real estate mogul Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Now that Ted Cruz and John Kasich have suspended their campaigns he will win the nomination. He’s officially not the presumptive nominee until June 7, but that is just a formality. The board has been cleared.
Now there is talk about healing the party, I’ve personally had Trump supporters reach out to me, some have berated me, but nothing for me has changed.
I was and still am #NeverTrump. This doesn’t mean that I want Hillary Clinton to win, no I’m not in favor of Hillary any more than I am in favor of Trump.
My conscience does not allow me to vote for:
- A serial adulterer who brags publicly about it.
- A misogynist who continually says disrespectful, demeaning things about women.
- A bully who also disrespects not only women, but the disabled and prisoners-of-war.
- Somebody who I, not only can’t trust on the life issue, but has defended Planned Parenthood.
- A demagogue who appeals to our base instincts rather than sound policy.
- Someone who is, arguably, a worst narcissist than Barack Obama.
- Someone who advocates forcing our men and women in uniform to commit war crimes.
- A prideful man who has never asked God for forgiveness.
- A politician who has flip flopped on numerous issues (even during this election cycle).
- Someone who attacks the family members of candidates.
- Someone whose impulse is to insult and personally smear those he disagrees with.
- An authoritarian who can’t be counted on to protect religious liberty and freedom of speech
I could go on and on. Personally I don’t think he’s any better than Hillary Clinton. They both stink in different ways.
I say this to simply say, I will never vote for him even if hell does freeze over. I don’t owe anyone a loyalty vote. I am voting my conscience, and it would be a sin for me not to do so. My conscience, however, is not yours. I understand there will be reasonable differences of opinion on this matter. I hope that Christ-followers won’t thoughtlessly vote for the man simply because he has an “R” by his name.
What will I do? Well I am going to vote. I am going to focus on down ballot races of candidates that I can get behind. I considered leaving the Republican Party, but for the time being I’m keeping my registration the same because I still desire to vote in primaries (we don’t have open primaries in Iowa). I am however disgusted with Republican leadership that set us up for a candidate like Trump, and I’m disgusted by establishment Republicans who would rather lose with Trump, than allow a true conservative like Ted Cruz win the nomination.
I won’t forget about the Republican leaders and elected officials who backed Trump in the primaries. Looking for support? Count me out as you betrayed conservatism (and common decency) with your endorsement because I’m not sure I can trust your judgment.
If the Republican Party implodes and we see the end of the tw0-party system, I won’t shed a tear.
If that makes me a Republican-In-Name-Only in the eyes of some then so be it.
I will look for a candidate at the top of the ticket that I can support, but I’m not sure if I will make any public endorsement.
I can say with certainty that I am now and will be in November firmly #NeverTrump.