Elections Archives - Edison Garage

Originally written Nov. 10, 2016

Those of you who know me, probably know I am an Election nerd. I began watching the coverage as soon as the first of the East Coast polls closed. Then watched all the way though to Donald Trump’s speech. During a one hour meeting, I monitored the returns during that time as well. Once I got home, I had three webpages open on my computer. And my TV was streaming my favorite show who was covering the election returns. So, I was a little plugged into what happened on Tuesday night. Because of this, I spend way too long laying in bed thinking about how it happened, what is next, who does he pick, what does he need to do.

Election day, plus one

As I got up and started with my Wednesday, my thoughts were, how are people on each side responding. So, when I opened my Facebook, I got my answer. As you would expect, there were those who were happy and cheering for the new direction. There were also others who were angry, upset and even spewing hate. Most of these folks, I have no idea who they are, some are friends, and some are even family. One post I started to reply to was angry and posed the question, why were so many people voting for a bigot and misogynist. So, I began my answer, only to realize my answer needed a longer form, and a larger audience. So, here it is.

This was not about anything Trump did to win this election. This election was about one thing, and I believe only one thing. God and the Supreme Court. ABC said that the Evangelical Christians came out and voted in record numbers. They voted to keep a conservative SCOTUS which meant going against personal beliefs of one individual in order to insure a conservative court. They knew that if HRC were to win, that SCOTUS would turn so liberal that Religious Rights, would end, the Right to Defend yourself would end, and many other freedoms would be attacked for years to come.

Why Hillary?

So, to look at this result and say that we are a lost people because we elected a dirt bag of a man, is just missing the larger picture here. I do not want to get into another political argument, the decision has been made. First, I want to say thank you to all of you for voting. This year only about 1/3 for the people in this country did. Second, I would like to turn the question around back to those who voted for Hillary.

Why did you decided to vote for Hillary, a woman who not only promotes the work of Margret Sanger, but praises her and calls her an inspiration, as well as received the Margret Sanger Award. This is a woman who promoted the extermination of black babies. She also started Planned Parenthood, an organization who’s primary service is the dismemberment of live babies. I understand the argument, that woman should be able to choose what she does with her body, but is that baby really her body, or is it someone else body? That seems rather close to making it legal for me to say what can be done to you. But that’s a whole topic in it’s self.

What difference does it make?

She openly lied about a YouTube video claiming it was the reason for the Benghazi attack, and then never sent help to defend American Service men and women, and then lies to the face of the parents of those who were killed in those attacks. Not to mention all of the other scandals and lost emails while working as an employee of the United States of America, and you. Most all the negative things that can be said about Trump, can also be said about HRC. So, neither one of them are really all that good as individual people.

It’s YOUR choice

Each and everyone of us had to decide, and will again in the future, what are our values, and how do we get the closest results to those values? This is what the people wanted. To insure that the SCOTUS would have the best chance of retaining Religious Freedoms, and other freedoms, that the Progressives have been attacking and chipping away at for the last 100 years. And this time, they won. The way they had to do it, was by sucking it up, holding their noses. Then picking a man that wasn’t the model citizen they would have hoped for, but would give the best chance for a favorable outcome.

I totally agree with the fact that Trump is not the most appealing of candidates. That is why I just could not put my name on his line. I voted my conscience and prayed, and left it in God’s hands and we all now see the results. I now pray for our new leaders that God will continue to guide them, and help them correct the course our great country has been on. And that they will be able to repair decades long issues that have put us here. (this would be Obama, Bush 43, Clinton, and Bush 41)

So your vote didn’t win

If you didn’t like this years results, remember, when your vote was for the winner, others were in your position today. That’s the way politics go, sometimes you win, then later, someone else wins. That is how we balance ourselves. So, we should all agree to be humble winners, and gracious losers, because in our lifetimes, we all will find ourselves on both sides at different times. And if we are always fighting, how on earth will we ever come together and find a middle we both can live with. Despite, how the election came out verses how you voted, we will all keep living tomorrow.

That was Tuesday, so what now? Now we need to come together to be the country we want. And here is why this country IS great. We can discuss, disagree and still love each other and get along with each other. That is also one thing I completely and totally disagree with Trump. America has ALWAYS been great. We may not have always lived up to our greatness, but let’s decided to all come together and live out our greatness once again.

Are you with me?

Originally written Oct. 12, 2016

“You give a vote for Hillary, if you don’t vote for Trump.” This is flawed logic. (I’m going to get in hot water with my folks for that comment, but I have to say it anyway.)

With all this talk of unendorsing Donald Trump, and the #NeverTrump crowd actually make a difference? The argument keeps coming up from long-time Republicans,

There are 5 legitimate candidates for President this year, Hillary (D), Trump (R), Johnson (Libertarian), Stein (Green), and McMullin (Write-In). So, when someone says, “Not voting for Trump, is a vote for Hillary,” why her? Why not for Jill Stein, or Gary Johnson, or Evan McMullin?

The break down

So let’s break this down. Clearly, if I vote for Hillary, that is one more vote for her and one more closer to winning, and one less for Trump. If I vote for Trump, it’s one more for Trump, and one less for Hillary. If I vote for Johnson, it’s one less vote for Trump, and one less vote cast for Hillary. But, also a vote for Hillary? What if I vote for Jill Stein? That would be one more for Stein, one less for Hillary, one less for Johnson, one less for McMullin. Would it be a vote for Trump? That is still a vote for Hillary, because it is not a vote for Trump, some say.

Maybe I need to vote for Romney. That would be even for everyone. None of the 5 would get my vote. Each of them would not only have one less vote to overcome. But they would all feel happy because I didn’t offend them by picking someone I liked better than them. And we all know how important it is to not hurt someone else’s feelings.

Where are the votes?

But seriously, this is not about anyone’s emotional feelings. This is about the leadership of our country. We are hiring the best person for the job as President of the United States of America. The person who will make decisions on how to avoid, or go to war, who will set the direction on the economy, who will set and manage (in partnership with Congress) the National Budget, who will be mine and your representative to the world. This is not a popularity contest. If it were we would actually get more votes cast (i. e. in the 2012 season of American Idol 132 Million votes were cast, in the 2012 Presidential election it was only 122 Million votes). But that’s a different story.

There are a lot of factors that go into choosing what candidate to cast a vote for. In this election we know that one of those factors is SCOTUS. And two seats that are known that will need to be filled. The economy, immigration/border security, and health care are also very important issues. All the candidates have their own take on each. So balancing the vast number issues and that no one person will agree with everyone, a set of markers needs to be set for each voter as to how they themselves will make that choice.

How do we choose?

In the past, we have had Presidents who were great public speakers, some were not great at speaking, some were great leaders, some were not, some created more damage than they fixed, others fixed more than they damaged. Some had great resumes, but failed in office. Some had only good resumes, but rose to exceed more than anyone had ever even hoped for them. This election is no different. There is a Governor, a Senator/Secretary of State, a Doctor, a Congressional Aid, and a Businessman, all backgrounds that have made it to being elected as President before. So, how do we choose?

The facts are this, we elect our President, as written in the Constitution, though a system called the Electoral College. How this works is, for the most part (some states break up the vote), each state pledges their total of votes to the candidate that wins the most votes in that state. For example, I live in Oregon which has 7 Electoral College votes. If Hillary takes the most votes in the state of Oregon, then all 7 votes go on the board for her. In the State of Oregon, those not voting for Hillary are not harming her chances of getting elected. So, voting for Johnson or McMullin, doesn’t help or harm Trump, and doesn’t help or harm Hillary.

Why even vote in a Blue State?

Why even vote for a not Hillary candidate in a state like Oregon? I see three reasons. First, to be a part of making the decision as to who leads our country, I feel it is part of our duty as Americans, even in, especially in, a losing effort.

Second, to stand up and be counted, to have your voice be heard, even if it’s just to say (in my case) I do not want a candidate like Trump. And third, to stand proud with who you are as a person, to stand up and write down (or press a software button on a screen, or however your state counts votes now) this is who I believe in, I will stand with this person, this person reflects my values and beliefs and I am proud to call this person my choice as President, even if you are only in a 1–2% group of people standing with that person.

Conclusion

Does not voting for one candidate mean you are voting for another? No. It only means you are choosing to not vote for anyone else except for the one you have actually cast a vote for. As for me, I can not vote for an immoral lier, this stance has put me in a very tough spot. But as a believer in God, I know all things are in His hands and He can make anything happen. I do not have to do mental, ethical, or moral gymnastics to be able to make my decision on who I choose to support. I only need to do what is right in my heart and in the sight of God, and he will make the rest happen.

So, my vote will not be for Hillary, and my not voting for Trump, will also not be a vote for Hillary, but I will vote, and pray. I hope you do too.

Tag: Elections

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