Question for Never Trump Republicans

[New_Conservative]

What are you going to do in November? I am out of ideas myself, considering I cannot get behind some principles of the Libertarian ticket (drug decriminalization, foreign policy, etc.). I am considering writing-in a figure like John Kasich, etc, or just leaving that spot blank. Interested in hearing what others are considering. Tonight's convention centered around hate, demagoguery, and fear-mongering and not enough about substance, or a message I'd feel comfortable about rallying around, and made me more enthusiastically against Trump. 

[Ljube]

Voting for Trump is the right decision.

[Rules for me, but not for thee]

What are you going to do in November? I am out of ideas myself, considering I cannot get behind some principles of the Libertarian ticket (drug decriminalization, foreign policy, etc.). I am considering writing-in a figure like John Kasich, etc, or just leaving that spot blank. Interested in hearing what others are considering. Tonight's convention centered around hate, demagoguery, and fear-mongering and not enough about substance, or a message I'd feel comfortable about rallying around, and made me more enthusiastically against Trump. 

Can we convert you fully over? Many libertarians are split on foreign policy, but Johnson is still wayyyyyy better than the two other criminals you have to choose from now.  Ending the war on drugs is good for everyone, even those that hate drugs and druggies.  It'll put drug cartels out of business.  Marijuana, LSD, and cocaine can all be tested and re-worked for medicinal purposes again.

I don't ever plan on recreational use of drugs but why not make it safer for everyone?

[RINO Tom]

Hillary is going to win, and yes she'll be a bad President.  However, Trump is damaging my party beyond repair, and it's plssing me off.  Many of Trump's supporters just want an outlet to be bigots and be proud of it and couldn't care less about the Republican Party.  I will be voting for Johnson.

[New_Conservative]

What are you going to do in November? I am out of ideas myself, considering I cannot get behind some principles of the Libertarian ticket (drug decriminalization, foreign policy, etc.). I am considering writing-in a figure like John Kasich, etc, or just leaving that spot blank. Interested in hearing what others are considering. Tonight's convention centered around hate, demagoguery, and fear-mongering and not enough about substance, or a message I'd feel comfortable about rallying around, and made me more enthusiastically against Trump. 

Can we convert you fully over? Many libertarians are split on foreign policy, but Johnson is still wayyyyyy better than the two other criminals you have to choose from now.  Ending the war on drugs is good for everyone, even those that hate drugs and druggies.  It'll put drug cartels out of business.  Marijuana, LSD, and cocaine can all be tested and re-worked for medicinal purposes again.

I don't ever plan on recreational use of drugs but why not make it safer for everyone?

I'm not under the belief that cocaine, heroin and other hard drugs should be decriminalized. Yes, we should treat abusers rather than throw them in a prison cell, but their dealers are clearly a blemish on society.

[Green Line]

Undecided between Hillary and write-in Condi Rice.  I can never vote for Johnson due to his foreign and social policies.  I also want to see the United States remain a functioning democracy and superpower, so Im obviously NeverTrump.  Hillary is not great, but at this point what does it matter?

[Indy Texas]

Hillary is going to win, and yes she'll be a bad President.  However, Trump is damaging my party beyond repair, and it's plssing me off.  Many of Trump's supporters just want an outlet to be bigots and be proud of it and couldn't care less about the Republican Party.  I will be voting for Johnson.

I love that you insist on calling it "your" party as though you and the ten people who like Jeb! Bush have some birthright to overrule the millions of Trumpists and those who at least view Trump as acceptable.

All you ever do is complain about 99% of what the Republican Party says and does anyway. It's not 1957 anymore - there's no "social elite" status conferred on you by being a Republican.

[Vosem]

Hillary is going to win, and yes she'll be a bad President.  However, Trump is damaging my party beyond repair, and it's plssing me off.  Many of Trump's supporters just want an outlet to be bigots and be proud of it and couldn't care less about the Republican Party.  I will be voting for Johnson.

I love that you insist on calling it "your" party as though you and the ten people who like Jeb! Bush have some birthright to overrule the millions of Trumpists and those who at least view Trump as acceptable.

All you ever do is complain about 99% of what the Republican Party says and does anyway. It's not 1957 anymore - there's no "social elite" status conferred on you by being a Republican.

It belongs to the 56% (really greater, since he was unopposed in the last 10 states; somewhere in the mid-'60s) that voted against Trump; we are the alliance of Cruz, Rubio, and Kasich and so on. Your constant repetition of the "millions for Trump" ignores the many more millions against him. So long as Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are still leaders of our congressional delegations, and we can elect economic conservatives like Matt Bevin in populist states like Kentucky, it is indeed still our party.

Those who view Trump as acceptable is a much smaller number than those voting for Trump. There is a large number who simply view him as less unacceptable than Hillary Clinton.

And, lastly, I'm voting for Gary Johnson (though I'm sure everyone here knew that).

[Erc]

Voting for Hillary.  The stakes are too high.

[Indy Texas]

Hillary is going to win, and yes she'll be a bad President.  However, Trump is damaging my party beyond repair, and it's plssing me off.  Many of Trump's supporters just want an outlet to be bigots and be proud of it and couldn't care less about the Republican Party.  I will be voting for Johnson.

I love that you insist on calling it "your" party as though you and the ten people who like Jeb! Bush have some birthright to overrule the millions of Trumpists and those who at least view Trump as acceptable.

All you ever do is complain about 99% of what the Republican Party says and does anyway. It's not 1957 anymore - there's no "social elite" status conferred on you by being a Republican.

It belongs to the 56% (really greater, since he was unopposed in the last 10 states; somewhere in the mid-'60s) that voted against Trump; we are the alliance of Cruz, Rubio, and Kasich and so on. Your constant repetition of the "millions for Trump" ignores the many more millions against him. So long as Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are still leaders of our congressional delegations, and we can elect economic conservatives like Matt Bevin in populist states like Kentucky, it is indeed still our party.

Those who view Trump as acceptable is a much smaller number than those voting for Trump. There is a large number who simply view him as less unacceptable than Hillary Clinton.

And, lastly, I'm voting for Gary Johnson (though I'm sure everyone here knew that).

Why couldn't you get millions more on your side, then?

If there were 13M votes for Donald Trump and 16M for the others, why couldn't any of the others bring any more people to their side to vote against Trump?

There are hundreds of millions of Americans who did not vote in the Republican Party at all. If you had even attempted to appeal to any of them, you could have easily outvoted Donald Trump.

[Weiner/Holder]

I'd say vote your party so Hillary doesn't become president.  Her unprotected server led to the creation of ISIS.  She also takes money from Iran who executes gays which could mean gays will be executed here in the US if she becomes president despite her boastful record on the gay community. 

[Vosem]

Hillary is going to win, and yes she'll be a bad President.  However, Trump is damaging my party beyond repair, and it's plssing me off.  Many of Trump's supporters just want an outlet to be bigots and be proud of it and couldn't care less about the Republican Party.  I will be voting for Johnson.

I love that you insist on calling it "your" party as though you and the ten people who like Jeb! Bush have some birthright to overrule the millions of Trumpists and those who at least view Trump as acceptable.

All you ever do is complain about 99% of what the Republican Party says and does anyway. It's not 1957 anymore - there's no "social elite" status conferred on you by being a Republican.

It belongs to the 56% (really greater, since he was unopposed in the last 10 states; somewhere in the mid-'60s) that voted against Trump; we are the alliance of Cruz, Rubio, and Kasich and so on. Your constant repetition of the "millions for Trump" ignores the many more millions against him. So long as Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are still leaders of our congressional delegations, and we can elect economic conservatives like Matt Bevin in populist states like Kentucky, it is indeed still our party.

Those who view Trump as acceptable is a much smaller number than those voting for Trump. There is a large number who simply view him as less unacceptable than Hillary Clinton.

And, lastly, I'm voting for Gary Johnson (though I'm sure everyone here knew that).

Why couldn't you get millions more on your side, then?

If there were 13M votes for Donald Trump and 16M for the others, why couldn't any of the others bring any more people to their side to vote against Trump?

Unfortunately, the candidates who were capable of appealing to all of those 16M (people like Rubio or Walker, on-paper appealing to social and fiscal conservatives) struck out. Once we were down to Trump/Cruz/Kasich, it was always going to be either Trump with his largest chunk and majority bonuses in some states or contested convention.

There are hundreds of millions of Americans who did not vote in the Republican Party at all. If you had even attempted to appeal to any of them, you could have easily outvoted Donald Trump.

This is true, I guess, and it's a fair point, but it doesn't take away from my main point that the people who want Trumpism (as opposed to simply finding it superior to Clintonism, a position I don't hold but can at least understand) are well short of 50% in the party.

[Indy Texas]

Why would you want to identify with a political party where Trump supporters are at least 40 percent of the party?

We can talk about how absolutely despicable Donald Trump and the 44% of Republicans who support him are, but what does that say about the other 56% of Republicans who are willing to share a tent with such people?

[Indy Texas]

The Republican Party is committing nothing short of malpractice tonight.

The fact that they are creating a possibility that someone of Donald Trump's qualifications, character and temperament would be in charge of the United States of America and given "The Football" among other things is really the last straw.

The minimum bar a political party must meet is nominating a candidate who is qualified to do the job. Every single candidate from either major party in recent history has met that test. Not all were "great" candidates or even very admirable people, but none would be a threat to national security if they were in the Oval Office. All the flameout candidates - McGovern, Mondale, Goldwater, Landon - would have been competent, regardless of whether you agreed with their policies.

The Republican Party proved itself incapable this year of meeting even that very basic bar.

And no, they aren't going to get to "whip out the Etch-a-Sketch" in 2020 and pretend that none of this ever happened.

[New_Conservative]

What are you going to do in November? I am out of ideas myself, considering I cannot get behind some principles of the Libertarian ticket (drug decriminalization, foreign policy, etc.). I am considering writing-in a figure like John Kasich, etc, or just leaving that spot blank. Interested in hearing what others are considering. Tonight's convention centered around hate, demagoguery, and fear-mongering and not enough about substance, or a message I'd feel comfortable about rallying around, and made me more enthusiastically against Trump. 

Can we convert you fully over? Many libertarians are split on foreign policy, but Johnson is still wayyyyyy better than the two other criminals you have to choose from now.  Ending the war on drugs is good for everyone, even those that hate drugs and druggies.  It'll put drug cartels out of business.  Marijuana, LSD, and cocaine can all be tested and re-worked for medicinal purposes again.

I don't ever plan on recreational use of drugs but why not make it safer for everyone?

I'm not under the belief that cocaine, heroin and other hard drugs should be decriminalized. Yes, we should treat abusers rather than throw them in a prison cell, but their dealers are clearly a blemish on society.

I have to be fair, the Johnson ticket has not been advocating the legalization of other drugs, but the rest of the Libertarian Party has been publicly supportive of it.

[IceSpear]

Vote for the Goldwater Girl!

[Rules for me, but not for thee]

Vote for the Goldwater Girl!

Who's that? You mean Grandma Nixon?

[RINO Tom]

Why would you want to identify with a political party where Trump supporters are at least 40 percent of the party?

We can talk about how absolutely despicable Donald Trump and the 44% of Republicans who support him are, but what does that say about the other 56% of Republicans who are willing to share a tent with such people?

Why would Northern liberals in the '30s want to identify with a party that was at least 40% segregationists?  Because they weren't going to give up the fight.  They believed in their party's economic message way more than the GOP.  They thought that the views of the Dixiecrats would eventually die out, and they were willing to fight for what they believed the Democratic Party could and should be.

If you don't see things that way, fine, be an independent, we're all very impressed with how you're not associated with anyone, etc., but you don't have to constantly talk about it every time I post.

[RINO Tom]

The Republican Party is committing nothing short of malpractice tonight.

The fact that they are creating a possibility that someone of Donald Trump's qualifications, character and temperament would be in charge of the United States of America and given "The Football" among other things is really the last straw.

The minimum bar a political party must meet is nominating a candidate who is qualified to do the job. Every single candidate from either major party in recent history has met that test. Not all were "great" candidates or even very admirable people, but none would be a threat to national security if they were in the Oval Office. All the flameout candidates - McGovern, Mondale, Goldwater, Landon - would have been competent, regardless of whether you agreed with their policies.

The Republican Party proved itself incapable this year of meeting even that very basic bar.

And no, they aren't going to get to "whip out the Etch-a-Sketch" in 2020 and pretend that none of this ever happened.

We'll see.

[Torie]

It seems to me that if you are a Pub who loathes Trump, the only sensible thing to do is vote for Hillary, the idea being that the most effective way to exorcise the Trump demon from the Pub soul, is by his losing by as large a popular vote margin as possible.

[Erc]

Why would you want to identify with a political party where Trump supporters are at least 40 percent of the party?

We can talk about how absolutely despicable Donald Trump and the 44% of Republicans who support him are, but what does that say about the other 56% of Republicans who are willing to share a tent with such people?

We live, unfortunately, in a two party system.  If we all become independents, we give up any say in the shaping of these two parties.  If we all become Democrats, we let Trump and his ilk control half of the national discourse in this country (even if they receive well below half of the vote).

We stick around, we organize, we vote in future primaries, and we vote in the general (mostly for Democrats), until we throw out Trump, everyone who endorsed Trump, everyone who supports Trump, and every single cowardly politician who may privately hate Trump but refuses to speak out against him for reasons of political expediency.

This is the moral test of our generation, and all but a handful of Republican officeholders and candidates have failed it.  So we vote for Democrats and pick up the pieces in 2018.

I do understand how ludicrous this is; if I thought a third party or the destruction of the Republican party were considerably more viable, I would advocate those options instead.

[RINO Tom]

Why would you want to identify with a political party where Trump supporters are at least 40 percent of the party?

We can talk about how absolutely despicable Donald Trump and the 44% of Republicans who support him are, but what does that say about the other 56% of Republicans who are willing to share a tent with such people?

We live, unfortunately, in a two party system.  If we all become independents, we give up any say in the shaping of these two parties.  If we all become Democrats, we let Trump and his ilk control half of the national discourse in this country (even if they receive well below half of the vote).

We stick around, we organize, we vote in future primaries, and we vote in the general (mostly for Democrats), until we throw out Trump, everyone who endorsed Trump, everyone who supports Trump, and every single cowardly politician who may privately hate Trump but refuses to speak out against him for reasons of political expediency.

This is the moral test of our generation, and all but a handful of Republican officeholders and candidates have failed it.  So we vote for Democrats and pick up the pieces in 2018.

I do understand how ludicrous this is; if I thought a third party or the destruction of the Republican party were considerably more viable, I would advocate those options instead.

This.  Being an independent is worthless, sorry.

Also, my huge issues with Trump don't in any way warm me to the Democratic Party.  I'm a socially moderate, pro-business Republican who dislikes populism, and - despite what delusional red avatars said here - that view set is comically out of line with the Democratic Party of 2016, too.

[IceSpear]

Why would you want to identify with a political party where Trump supporters are at least 40 percent of the party?

We can talk about how absolutely despicable Donald Trump and the 44% of Republicans who support him are, but what does that say about the other 56% of Republicans who are willing to share a tent with such people?

We live, unfortunately, in a two party system.  If we all become independents, we give up any say in the shaping of these two parties.  If we all become Democrats, we let Trump and his ilk control half of the national discourse in this country (even if they receive well below half of the vote).

We stick around, we organize, we vote in future primaries, and we vote in the general (mostly for Democrats), until we throw out Trump, everyone who endorsed Trump, everyone who supports Trump, and every single cowardly politician who may privately hate Trump but refuses to speak out against him for reasons of political expediency.

This is the moral test of our generation, and all but a handful of Republican officeholders and candidates have failed it.  So we vote for Democrats and pick up the pieces in 2018.

I do understand how ludicrous this is; if I thought a third party or the destruction of the Republican party were considerably more viable, I would advocate those options instead.

This.  Being an independent is worthless, sorry.

Also, my huge issues with Trump don't in any way warm me to the Democratic Party.  I'm a socially moderate, pro-business Republican who dislikes populism, and - despite what delusional red avatars said here - that view set is comically out of line with the Democratic Party of 2016, too.

Being registered Republican only matters if you live in a closed primary state. Neither of you do.

Besides, registration is different from self identification anyway.

[Erc]

- snip -

Being registered Republican only matters if you live in a closed primary state. Neither of you do.

Besides, registration is different from self identification anyway.

Virginia still holds nominating conventions in lieu of primaries from time to time for certain offices (usually for ones they have no chance of winning, of course).

[MasterJedi]

I'm going to do something I never thought I would, vote for Clinton because Trump is like a cancer and every action needs to be taken to get rid of it.