A dark horse, but 538 goes gun a 1 n a 100 chance of pulling off an upset...
> > http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2016/october/evangelical-views-of-2016-election-in-support-of-third-part.html > > <http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2016/october/evangelical-views-of-2016-election-in-support-of-third-part.html> > > Evangelical Views of the 2016 Election: Not the Lesser of Two Evils, Choose > Candidate Evan McMullin Instead > Editor-in-Chief of Christ and Pop Culture wants to lay a foundation for a > future conservative party | > > O. Alan Noble > I support Evan McMullin’s campaign for President. For the first time in my > life, I even donated to a political campaign, and I did so knowing that > McMullin would almost certainly not win, or even come close to it. > > I have been informed by many concerned citizens that I am throwing my vote > away, or voting for Trump by not voting for Clinton, or voting for Clinton by > not voting for Trump. Others have accused me of being too elitist to vote for > Trump, as if voting for McMullin were merely a way to ease my conscience or > feel morally superior. > > The truth is I support McMullin for President because I believe that doing so > is the best chance we have for cultivating an influential, vibrant > conservative party that promotes human flourishing and defends life into the > future. > > I’ve come to this position begrudgingly, but driven by a few principles. > > One is that it is possible for a candidate to be so unacceptable that they do > not deserve our vote regardless of how bad the other major candidate is. The > minimum standard is opposed to the more popular, pragmatic idea that the > acceptability of a candidate is relative to who they’re running against. > > It is not that I believe in only voting for perfect candidates, or even only > for good ones. My objection is to the idea that I must vote for one of two > candidates when I believe either will be profoundly harmful to my neighbor. > When an election has come to this point, the answer is not to “hold my nose > and vote,” as I have been admonished to do. It requires a drastic action that > calls attention to the political and societal rot that brought us here and > advocates for a new way forward. And I believe the best action in this > situation is to vote and advocate for Evan McMullin. > > I have a number of concerns about McMullin’s campaign, how thin his platforms > are on his website, the absence of a plank on racial justice and religious > liberty, his lack of a running mate, and his near-impossibility of winning. > > But ideologically, there is much for me to praise. Among the candidates, he > uniquely understands the threat of Islamist terrorism and yet is an advocate > for refugees. He’s pro-life and supports traditional values, and his message > is hopeful, rather than paranoid. > > McMullin is not my ideal candidate, but he is an example of how you can be a > conservative presidential candidate who is concerned about the welfare of > minorities, who avoids bombast and fear-mongering, and who demonstrates > compassion. Those are qualities worth supporting. And unlike his closest 3rd > party rival, Gary Johnson, McMullin is pro-life and supports religious > liberty. > > For conservatives like myself who cannot vote for Clinton, supporting > McMullin over Trump is not about preserving our moral superiority, it is > about laying a foundation for a future conservative party. > > When we vote for Donald Trump, it is a signal to other politicians that the > evangelical vote can be gained simply by offering lip-service to a pro-life > platform. A man who has repeatedly defended Planned Parenthood and who was > until recently pro-choice and who didn’t even bother to mention abortion > during his nomination acceptance speech has received widespread evangelical > support just for saying he’s pro-life. > > Trump knows quite a bit about bargaining, and I suspect he’d say that > evangelicals have just handed over all of their political influence this > election by supporting him. Why should any future GOP candidate work to earn > our support? Why should they care about our concerns? If we will vote for > Trump, who will we not vote for? A vote for Trump is a vote signifying that > evangelicals are owned by the GOP. Part of the tragedy here is that > evangelicals are still a big enough voting bloc that we could prevent either > candidate from winning the election. > > Let that sink in. If evangelicals just said, “No, I refuse to be coerced into > supporting candidates who do not meet a very basic standard,” we could swing > the election. You probably read that sentence and immediately dismissed it, > thinking something like, “That is a fantasy. The reality is people are going > to vote for one of the two major candidates.” > > People won’t vote for a third party candidate because third party candidates > don’t win because people won’t vote for a third party candidate—which is > great for the two major parties because they don’t really have to even try to > address the concerns of voters. > > A vote for Trump also communicates to our neighbors that we believe he would > be an acceptable leader for our country. Sure, you can qualify your Trump > support by saying you have reservations but you believe he’s better than > Clinton; however, by casting a ballot for him you are fundamentally claiming > that it would be good for Trump to govern you and your neighbor. > > Most millennials and minorities find this thought to be repulsive, > particularly because of the racism, nationalism, and hate that Trump has > encouraged in his supporters. Please do not miss this point: many of our > minority brothers and sisters in Christ are scared, hurt, or threatened by a > Trump presidency because of the things he has said and the rabid support of > open racists he has received. Listen to their concerns and consider how your > public support of Trump might appear to them. If Trump becomes the image of > the evangelical presidential candidate, we can expect many young people and > minorities to feel further alienated and threatened by the church. > > In addition, a vote for Trump communicates that he is an acceptable face for > the GOP. Trumpism becomes the defacto politics of the right, particularly if > he wins. We have already seen hints at this. Last year a bipartisan criminal > justice reform bill looked like it would easily pass > <http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2015/09/is-trump-killing-justice-reform-000225>. > The GOP House widely supported it, and with good cause. But with the rise of > Trump, many representatives grew afraid of appearing to be “soft” on crime > <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/17/us/politics/senate-dysfunction-blocks-bipartisan-criminal-justice-overhaul.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&_r=1>. > > Paul Ryan is now fighting what is probably a hopeless effort to pass what > most conservatives recognized to be a good bill because Trump had made “Law > and Order” the new GOP platform. A simple look at the demographics in America > reveals that racial minorities and millennials will continue to grow as a > percentage of the voting population. And those are the exact two demographics > that cannot stand Trumpism. > > If we make him the face of the GOP today, we can expect evangelical voters to > go elsewhere in the coming elections. > > By voting for and publicly supporting Evan McMullin, you are helping to give > the GOP a mandate to take the evangelical vote seriously and you are > rejecting the pull towards a conservative party governed by racism and > nationalism. > > In the coming decades, what will matter far more than the promises of a > dishonest man to appoint conservative justices will be the existence of a > vibrant and influential conservative movement. > > Just a quick note about endorsement: by running these posts, I don’t > necessarily support (or oppose) the endorsements or opinions given, but > rather seek to provide a space where (disagreeing) evangelical voices express > why they support the main candidates. > -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. 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