I am coming rapidly to the conclusion that supporters of Trump have no positive reasons to offer #NeverTrump voters to change their minds. I get dozens of piece of hate mail and/or angry tweets a day, and never do they even attempt to offer an actual reason that any sentient being would believe to vote for Trump. It’s always, 100% of the time, “If you don’t vote for Trump, Hillary will win! And then WE’LL ALL BASICALLY BE DEAD!!”

I don’t know if these people genuinely don’t understand how lame they sound, or if they just honestly have nothing else to say. Are they of the opinion that any conservative in the country doesn’t know who Hillary is and what she is all about by now? Why does anyone suffer from the conceit that they’re going to offer breaking news to anyone over the age of about 15 about the fact that Hillary is bad and liberal? Give me a break. Hillary is probably the most well-known quantity in America at this point.

After being in the White House, the Senate, a bruising and public prior campaign and a 4-year tenure as Secretary of State, you’re not exactly the first person to call attention to the idea that Hillary is a less than desirable President for conservatives.

Further, this particular trick is almost exactly like the Jedi mind trick, which is to say that it only works on the weak minded. As in, anyone who’s not a genetically bred clone who’s been programmed for obedience to a strong leader since birth will not really fall for it.

Look, this isn’t the first time Hillary has run for President. Back in 2008, she ran against the guy who’s actually occupied the White House for the last 8 years, and she was clearly the more centrist option. If the country could survive 8 years of Obama, it can survive four more years of Hillary, who would probably represent status quo ante.

Mainly, though, the arrogant stupidity that assumes that #NeverTrump hasn’t already factored Hillary into their calculus is really galling. In the first place, their most common assertion, which is that a vote for a third party candidate is the same as a vote for Hillary, is completely untrue. It is manifestly less harmful to Donald Trump’s chances at the Presidency to vote for a third party candidate than it is to vote for Hillary – but by all means if Trump’s supporters want to keep encouraging people to just vote for Hillary anyway, they can be my guest.

But still, it IS true that voting third party won’t be as helpful to Trump as voting for him, and that an incidental effect of doing so might be to help Hillary win the Presidency. Again, why do current Trump supporters think they are breaking news to anyone with this? Why do they think that scaring anyone with facts they already know will be effective? Why do they think we haven’t already considered this possibility?

The whole appeal of the current Trump supporters basically boils down to junior high level peer pressure, only exerted on adults with fully functioning intellects and moral compasses. It’s sad and shameful and, at bottom, a reflection of the worthlessness of the man they have chosen to defend.