Poughkeepsie Journal Editorial Board

Millions of voters absolutely disdain their choices in this year’s presidential election — and who could blame them?

But the reality is either Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Democrat, or Donald Trump, a Republican, is going to be elected president, and voters ought to think long and hard about that choice.

We sure have and believe Clinton will — and should — win by default.

Trump’s promise was quickly erased when he had the audacity to chide U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona for getting captured by the enemy during the Vietnam War.

Republican primary voters should have summarily dismissed his candidacy right then and there. Instead, he was allowed to fester, and his derisive, derogatory comments have been aimed at everyone from minorities, to those with disabilities and to women. In fact, his lewd comments about women, caught on tape in 2005, outrageously condoned sexual assault. While Trump has expressed regret for those specific words, his crass remarks have plagued this campaign and have much of the country participating in a vile, perpetual race to the bottom. The Journal has long pushed for a more inclusive, tolerant society — right here in the Hudson Valley and across the globe — and Trump’s words and actions are diametrically opposed to those beliefs.

Trump’s ‘plans’ are nearly non-existent

Trump, a business tycoon with no political experience, has been alarmingly vague and superficial on the policy front as well, often sidestepping specifics and essentially telling the American people to trust him to make things “great again.”

What’s more, he has refused to disclose his tax returns, something every other presidential candidate has done for decades. His outlandish stonewalling on this issue should be a non-starter for voters as well.

In her decades in the public eye, Clinton has made some grave mistakes that undoubtedly should frustrate even her most ardent supporters. She showed reprehensible judgment by using a private email server during her time as secretary of state and sending messages that (whether she knew at the time or not) included classified material. She initially resisted the release of the documents and then misrepresented and even obscured the facts. She has, at least, acknowledged the manner in which she handled these emails was a mistake.

If she wins, tremendous scrutiny must continue on the Clinton Foundation, the multimillion-dollar charity that has done exceptional work around the globe but nevertheless has raised alarms about access and “pay to play” for the governments and ultra-rich who have ties to it. While former President Bill Clinton says he will step down from the foundation if his wife takes office, legitimate concerns about potential conflicts of interest obviously will remain.

Moreover, there is no arguing that in paid speeches before Wall Street bankers, the Democratic presidential candidate has offered strikingly different perspectives on trade and regulation than the populist tones she espouses on the campaign trail. Seemingly each day, WikiLeaks releases reams of hacked emails from the Clinton campaign that raise fresh concerns, and voters also must take these matters into consideration — and wonder what else might come out about either candidate before Election Day.

Yet, despite these serious questions and her shortcomings, Clinton is exceedingly more qualified than Trump to handle the complexities of the presidency, both on the domestic front and through world diplomacy. During her time as secretary of state, U.S. senator from New York and first lady, she has shown a commanding grasp of policy. And that was true during three editorial board meetings she held with the Poughkeepsie Journal during the time she was running and then serving as senator. While she surely didn’t accomplish all she set out to do in that capacity, (a job-growth promise for upstate New York perhaps topping the list) she worked reasonably well with Republican colleagues and can point to significant successes. They include helping to secure desperately needed funding for the cleanup and rebuilding of the World Trade Center site after the 9/11 attacks — and resources for the long-term health monitoring of first responders at the site. Closer to home, she also championed the cleanup of industrial chemicals polluting the Hudson River.

Many GOP leaders oppose party’s candidate

It’s true there are other people on the ballot in this presidential race, including Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson. But he at times has stumbled greatly over rudimentary questions and is not a credible choice, nor does he have any chance of winning. Polling in the single digits, Green Party candidate Jill Stein also is not a realistic alternative.

This is no doubt a two-person race, and the high number of Republican leaders who either outright oppose Trump or have greatly distanced themselves from his candidacy shouldn’t be lost on anyone. Regardless of political party affiliation, no former living president has endorsed him. And, in a scathing letter signed by dozens of members of the Republican national security community, the GOP candidate was called “fundamentally dishonest.” The signees included Michael Chertoff, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA and National Security Agency. They offered a litany of spot-on criticisms, saying, “His vision of American influence and power in the world is wildly inconsistent and unmoored in principle. He swings from isolationism to military adventurism within the space of one sentence.”

To top it off, 30 former members of Congress (again all Republican) have declared they will not vote for Trump.

They wrote, “His public statements are peppered with lies. He belittles our heroes and insults the parents of men who have died serving our country. Every day brings a fresh revelation that highlights the unacceptable danger in electing him to lead our nation.”

We wholeheartedly agree. The stench and shallowness of the Trump campaign should greatly alarm the American people. Trump has to be defeated, and Clinton is the only legitimate option to do it.

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