by

A brief post to explain my political position here. I don’t speak for the other permas at BCC and won’t pretend to make this a generalized editorial. I also won’t waste time on the countless reasons Donald Trump is not qualified to be president, as the Deseret News and other papers of record have already articulated those points. [edit: I’ll just focus on one]

I view Donald Trump as threatening the rule of law and the peaceful transition of power from administration to administration. He has specifically called upon “the Second Amendment people” to do something about his rival, Hillary Clinton. He has repeatedly suggested that the polls are rigged. He has also repeatedly said that if he loses the election, it would be the result of fraud and rigged voting machines. Trump has hinted that armed insurrection in the face of such a rigged election would be appropriate. That’s such an awful threat to make in America.

Under normal circumstances, it would be sufficient to have Trump lose and disappear back into his reality TV netherworld. But here, the specter of his vote fraud allegations is so problematic that he must not just be defeated, but defeated beyond all margin of possible tainted vote. As a Canadian I like a multi-party system (Sorry, Hugh B. Brown! ). But when you’re facing a threatening demagogue you don’t splinter the opposition. Trump must be defeated by a completely undisputable margin. Hence McMullin is not an option despite him being a decent person (if underqualified). Gary Johnson is not an option for many other reasons as well. This leaves us with Hillary Clinton. There are many flaws with Hillary Clinton. They are quite plain. Her email scandal, for example, is a symptom of a greater problem with the candidate, that of seeing herself perhaps as operating above the commoners. To say she is imperfect is obvious. To call her “evil” is an exaggeration, but neither is she the ideal candidate. I do not believe that minorities, the poor, our problems with immigration, our domestic economics or other problems will be miraculously solved with President Clinton. The pros: she represents the political establishment. I don’t view this as a flaw; the economic markets and international geopolitics favor stability, and she offers stability that no other candidate can offer. She would be our first female president, a glass ceiling that should have been shattered long ago. And she brings critical experience to the table that is unmatched by any other candidate, period. She is the most qualified. Given a different roster of candidates, my vote might be with another. But this is the hand we have been dealt, and the choice is clear.

So yes, I’m with her.