Who should Never Trump Conservatives vote for/support?

[TGHusker]

While this is way to early as we are over a year away from the GE, I thought I'd start a thread to get opinions as we go through the election season.

 

NOTE: I'LL ADD A SIMILAR POLL QUESTION AS WE GET CLOSE TO THE ELECTION.  THIS IS JUST YOUR CURRENT GUT CHECK POLL QUESTION.  MUCH WILL 

CHANGE BETWEEN SEPT 2019 AND NOV 2020.

 

The Dem debates are going full force and soon the primaries will be upon us with wall to wall, morning to night TV ads, etc. (Yea, what fun ) 

A lot of Dems are excited about the process and rightly so - they have several quality candidates in the race. 

Trump supporters are hell bent on keeping their cult leader in power as well  - so they are fired up as well. 

 

There is, however,  a group of us - some Never Trumpers or some disillusioned former Trump supporters -  who are conservative in persuasion and who have no obvious place to go.  

The primaries are being rigged by the GOP to lesson any damage done by primary challengers.  And at this point, no one has challenged Trump worth our excitement.

Thus we will come to the General election eventually and that begs a question - who do we vote for?

 

 Do we sit out the process - not vote?  Do we vote for  the presumably left leaning Dem nominee?  Do we vote for the most palatable Independent candidate who is closest to our political philosophy?  Or do we give in, hold our nose and vote for Trump because we can't break with our pure political philosophy?

 

While all can join in on this discussion, I've set this thread up to hear the voice of the moderate, to right of center poster in particular and specifically that right of center poster who finds it difficult to vote for Trump.   Perhaps with our combined wisdom of all,  the 'who to vote for' question will become clearer as we near the general election.

 

 

 

[knapplc]

The problem isn't just Trump. The GOP has sold its soul.

 

If you don't vote a straight-line Democrat ticket these next elections, you're making things worse.

[BigRedBuster]

I have absolutely no fridge clue who or how I'm voting.

 

However, Knapp's thought process isn't too far off.

[Nebfanatic]

This election is about showing the GOP they are heading in the absolute wrong direction. They need to lose bigly to a left winger and hopefully that can help them see the light that maybe a more centrist approach would be better for them.

[commando]

while i don't agree with much of what the dems are pushing.....they are not the threat to us that trump is and i plan to vote straight dem ticket to get trump and as many of his sycophants out of office that i can help with.  i know that this is nebraska and my vote will probably not make any difference but it is the only way i can vote in good conscience.

 

 

[Landlord]

If you live in an area where the vote is guaranteed for a particular person, then vote for whoever you want even if they can't win. If you win in an area with any chance of it flipping or helping out the democrat nominee, vote for them.

[NM11046]

Will be interesting to see the comments - no big secret how I voted in the poll.  

 

Its irresponsible to NOT vote - no matter the election. 

 

I think you vote who you believe will make the strongest leader and has the moral character to not just lead the US but help us recover from this mess. If you truly think thats Perot or Nader or whomever make that choice but good god vote and know the candidates and what they are about.   

 

I appreciate seeing some of the down the line voting comments.  Im working with a group now to educate those in KY they can (and should) vote straight Dem party.  This last few years and the turn around in 2018 in the HOR should show how important all races are.  

 

#VoteBlueNoMatterWho

[QMany]

16 minutes ago, Landlord said:

If you live in an area where the vote is guaranteed for a particular person, then vote for whoever you want even if they can't win. If you win in an area with any chance of it flipping or helping out the democrat nominee, vote for them.

 

I disagree with this defeatist strategy. Everyone should vote; and at this point, I think it is clear everyone should vote for whoever has the best chance to unseat Trump (likely Democratic nominee), regardless of whether their state was "guaranteed" in the past. Considering the record 2018 midterm turnout, and those numbers moving Democrat, I wouldn't take any state for granted. 

[Ulty]

If we had a left-wing fascist in office as corrupt and destructive as Trump, and I saw that the liberal establishment that I used to identify with was suddenly bending over for him without any resistance or accountability, and the only choice for getting him out of office was to vote for a conservative with whom I disagreed on virtually all policy issues, I would feel incredibly sick and heartbroken over it all. And I would expect my conservative friends to hold it over my head. 

 

But if that conservative candidate had any sense of values and leadership, I would hold my nose and pull that lever. And then start working to rebuild my own party, or find a party that actually embraced the same values as I do. 

 

If you lean right, and you have any scruples whatsoever, you need to rebuild your party and re-establish your values, but you cannot rebuild with this current clown in office. Vote Blue.

[Landlord]

1 hour ago, QMany said:

 

I disagree with this defeatist strategy. Everyone should vote; and at this point, I think it is clear everyone should vote for whoever has the best chance to unseat Trump (likely Democratic nominee), regardless of whether their state was "guaranteed" in the past. Considering the record 2018 midterm turnout, and those numbers moving Democrat, I wouldn't take any state for granted. 

 

 

 

Sorry, if I still lived in Chicago and somebody like Biden was the Democratic candidate, I'm not voting for him. I'll exercise my right to protest and let my voice/the number show it, especially when it literally doesn't matter to the outcome. 

[TGHusker]

My take is similar to others.  The GOP needs a whack on the side of the head.  As a conservative voter (although I think I'm becoming more moderate the older I get), I value country over party and our country does not need the GOP as it is currently calibrated.  They have gotten far off track, have been deceived by a cult leader who is in this game just for himself and his family and who is not qualified for the job.  He and the GOP are doing more damage to the country than any 'conservative' benefit they happen to stumble into.   Frankly, this isn't a game - our country is at stake. 

 

At this point it is better to vote for an Elizabeth Warren who if anything is thoughtful, has plans in place and appears to have the smarts to govern more then just a certain segment of the population.  Or Joe Biden - while Biden is who he is- he would probably have a good team in place and the WH won't be a revolving door.  He'd bring some stability even though he might be getting a bit forgetful and misspeaks.

 

House and Senate - time to clean it out.  Too many hard right representatives. If moderate Dems (relatively speaking) can win some of these hard RED districts, it will send the GOP back to rethink what they are about - will they be the party of Trump or the party of Lincoln, Reagan, Eisenhower.

 

Sitting out the election is a non-starter.  You don't take for granted this privilege of voting.  You have to make the hard decisions.

 

Voting independent  - yes I could do that in Okla - which will go for Trump or any other GOP candidate but that has no value. This admin needs to be soundly beaten not just in the electoral college but in the poll of popular opinion - the popular vote.

 

Vote for Trump because I don't want someone left of center to be president- that would be to " cut off one's nose to spite one's face"  - hurting myself and the country by trying to hurt the Dems just for the sake of political purity.   There is a higher 'purity' then political purity -- it is love for country.  The Dem candidates are every bit as in love with our country as I am - just as patriotic.   Therefore the adage comes into play - He who is not against us is for us.   The Dems may be a  team with a different perspective on how to get things done and problems solved but that is ok - that is how this country has gotten build to this point. 

[JJ Husker]

I hadn’t really thought about this in such simple terms. There really isn’t an option that isn’t bad. In the poll I voted for the independent candidate closest to my conservative philosophy but I probably should’ve picked other because what I intend to do is vote for the candidate closest to my philosophy. They don’t have to be independent and they don’t have to be conservative.

 

I won’t vote for Trump and I likely won’t vote for any of the currently leading democrats. The best I can hope for is someone to come along that I can consider without puking and then hopefully my vote may encourage more like them to run in the future. After the first dem debate I kind of liked Buttegeig but as far as I know he’s already out of it. I won’t vote for Biden and Bernie is highly doubtful. I would need to find out more about Warren before completely ruling her out but the little bit I think I know about her isn’t promising. Basically my vote will be wasted and I sure doubt it will help change anything. Gotta love this country ehh?

[BigRedBuster]

I finally voted and put "other".  So, I guess I have to explain.

 

I absolutely will not vote for Trump.  So, someone else has to come forward that deserves my vote.  I am not willing to totally commit to voting for the Democrat candidate even though that probably has the highest chance of getting my vote.

 

I'm leaving it open.  I would absolutely love someone to honestly challenge Trump in the primaries and beat him.  That's a very small chance of happening.  

[NM11046]

53 minutes ago, JJ Husker said:

I hadn’t really thought about this in such simple terms. There really isn’t an option that isn’t bad. In the poll I voted for the independent candidate closest to my conservative philosophy but I probably should’ve picked other because what I intend to do is vote for the candidate closest to my philosophy. They don’t have to be independent and they don’t have to be conservative.

 

I won’t vote for Trump and I likely won’t vote for any of the currently leading democrats. The best I can hope for is someone to come along that I can consider without puking and then hopefully my vote may encourage more like them to run in the future. After the first dem debate I kind of liked Buttegeig but as far as I know he’s already out of it. I won’t vote for Biden and Bernie is highly doubtful. I would need to find out more about Warren before completely ruling her out but the little bit I think I know about her isn’t promising. Basically my vote will be wasted and I sure doubt it will help change anything. Gotta love this country ehh?

I think you implied this but I wanted to clarify, " They don’t have to be independent and they don’t have to be conservative."  Does that totally rule out you voting for a Dem?  What is your rationale for closing that chapter?

 

And I don't think Buttegeig is totally out.  Still in the top 4-5 in most polls.  He's on my short list so Ive kept an eye on him.

 

Here's a question for you, and potentially for others or to add to the poll ... is there a VP candidate that the Dem nominee  can pick that would make the decision to vote for the democratic ticket an easier one for you?

[JJ Husker]

20 minutes ago, NM11046 said:

I think you implied this but I wanted to clarify, " They don’t have to be independent and they don’t have to be conservative."  Does that totally rule out you voting for a Dem?  What is your rationale for closing that chapter?

 

And I don't think Buttegeig is totally out.  Still in the top 4-5 in most polls.  He's on my short list so Ive kept an eye on him.

 

Here's a question for you, and potentially for others or to add to the poll ... is there a VP candidate that the Dem nominee  can pick that would make the decision to vote for the democratic ticket an easier one for you?

No, what I meant was it doesn’t matter what party or if they’re conservative or liberal or whatever, as long as I agree with what they say they want to do. The caveat to that is that I’m pretty much fiscally conservative and socially moderate so my tendencies may naturally rule out a lot of dems. If Buttegeig is still top 4 or 5, I’ll keep an eye out for him.

 

And the VP is pretty much a non-issue for me. IMO the Veep selection won’t help them much but it could harm them a lot.