I may not have to hold my nose in November after all

by Dan Lucas

Finally a ray of hope.

This has not been a pleasant election cycle for me. I have especially been disappointed in my fellow Republican voters in the presidential primary. I have been disappointed with Democratic voters for a much longer time.

I have been preparing myself to hold my nose and vote for Trump in November.

Hillary would be a disaster for the country. Her scandals are too numerous to count, she’s utterly self-serving and untrustworthy, and despite a very long and public career, she has few if any accomplishments. But most concerning would be her ability to appoint more liberal judges to the U.S. Supreme Court. Liberal judges who would legislate from the bench and “re-interpret” the U.S. Constitution – judges whose view of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” doesn’t include protecting life or liberty.

My choice in November, then, seemed to be vote for Hillary or vote for Trump. Not much of a choice, but I couldn’t do anything that would help Hillary get elected. One more grin and bear it moment.

You know those grin and bear it moments? When you’re a guest and someone has spent a great deal of effort preparing something you can’t stand. When you have to pretend you’re excited about the latest fad programs and acronyms at work. When you have to act like you’re interested in a topic of conversation that is turning minutes into an eternity. Or more seriously, when you know your tax dollars are being used to pay for abortions that deliberately end innocent lives. If I can, I try to avoid those moments. I find the more I’m able to avoid those moments, the greater my quality of life and in certain cases the more at peace I am with my conscience.

Which takes us back to November. One more grin and bear it moment, right? Or is it?

Here’s where the ray of hope comes in. Fellow Oregon conservative Thomas J. Miller had an online post recently that pointed out that due to the winner-take-all basis of Oregon’s Electoral College votes, my not voting for Trump won’t help Hillary in this deep blue state. No matter what I do in November, it will not change Oregon’s seven Electoral Votes going to Hillary Clinton. Recent polling shows Hillary with a 14 percent lead in Oregon over Trump.

Regarding Oregon’s status as a deep blue state: as of the end of June, Oregon had more than an 11% Democratic statewide voter registration advantage – the largest Democratic advantage in at least the last 15 years, possibly ever. Last October, The Hill ranked Oregon the 3rd bluest state in the U.S. (behind Washington & Minnesota), and noted that Oregon had voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in the last seven elections. The last time Oregon voted for a Republican for president was 32 years ago, in 1984, for Ronald Reagan against Walter Mondale. In a May 10th article on Hillary Clintons’s problem with still losing primary battles to Bernie Sanders, Politco noted Oregon “is among the most liberal states in the country.”

I will definitely be voting this November – there are many excellent Republican candidates to vote for down ballot and there are important ballot measures – but I am greatly relieved at the prospect of not having to vote for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. It would be much easier to face myself the morning after the election.

To read more from Dan, visit www.dan-lucas.com