It is almost over… but here is a final thought.
The presidential contest in Utah garnered more national attention than usual, not just because Trump’s lead in Utah is much smaller than recent Republican presidential candidates, but also due to the fact that an independent candidate has polled at numbers above or near major party candidates. Evan McMullin, an anomaly as far as independent candidates go, has had double digit polling in Utah, far higher than other independent candidates in general.
McMullin’s high polling in Utah is due to two factors: 1) The strong dislike in the state for both Trump and Clinton, and 2) McMullin is a Utah native and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormon Church. He is “one of us” according to the predominant religion as headquartered in the state.
As word of McMullin has got out in Utah, his polling numbers rose quickly, especially after the 2005 Access Hollywood tape surfaced where Trump was speaking of trying to bed a married woman in addition to how his star status allows him to sexually assault women. Unfortunately, in the last few weeks momentum in Utah has unfortunately swung back towards Trump.
The former post “Why Third Party Candidates Are Not Better Than Clinton” outlined the reasons why Clinton’s experience clearly suits her for the job over any other candidate. To briefly recap, the three primary responsibilities of the president as described in Article II of the Constitution are:
1) Head of State and Diplomat in Chief.
2) Head of Government.
3) Commander in Chief.
For simplicity that post just focused on Gary Johnson to represent the third party candidates, being perhaps the most well-known third party candidate at this time. This post will summarize the same things but for Evan McMullin to show that flocking to McMullin to avoid Trump is a mistake given the option at hand with Clinton.
1) Head of State and Diplomat in Chief.
McMullin has no diplomatic experience. He definitely has knowledge of international relations but Clinton has experience in this respect second only to somebody who has served as president.
2) Head of Government.
McMullin has worked in the executive branch as a CIA agent. However, this experience pales to insignificance compare to the previously described experience Clinton has amassed in government over decades, experience pertinent to the role of president.
3) Commander in Chief.
McMullin has had no oversight over anything to do with the armed forces. Clinton has had oversight experience and has in an official capacity advised the president of the U.S. on these matters. It is a no-brainer.
If you don’t want Trump, be a part of electing somebody who will be ready come day one
From the little we know of Evan McMullin he appears to be a good young man. But he is not even close to being the most qualified for president nor is he the way to stop a Trump presidency. The only way McMullin can be president is to have Trump come within an inch of winning the White House that will ultimately end up giving Trump the White House. This is why:
McMullin cannot win the electoral college vote to become president. It is simple math; he just simply isn’t on enough ballots to reach 270 electoral votes. Nor will a majority of Americans (who don’t know about him anyway) suddenly write him in to elect him. The only hope McMullin has of being president is for him to win Utah’s six electoral college votes and then hope that Clinton and Trump be tied in the electoral college vote at 266 each. With no candidate reaching the necessary 270 electoral college votes, the top three electoral vote takers would then have their names before the incoming House of Representatives and the incoming House will decide the election (the Senate will have the top two electoral vote takers from the VP candidates to decide that). Each state delegation in Congress has one vote thereby such a tie breaker is most probably going to be controlled by Republicans given that they are projected to have the most state delegations. Would they elect Clinton? Highly doubtful. McMullin? Anything is possible but he is not their candidate, someone else is. Trump? Yes – he’s their candidate and if Trump got 266 electoral college votes then for the House to not elect him would be to go against the voice of many Americans, the same Americans who would remember in two years’ time that the House didn’t respect their voice in the presidential election. Therefore, for the House to elect anyone but Trump in a tie-breaking situation would be to hurt their own reelection chances.
Utahns, you must understand that not only will McMullin not become president but that the only hope he has which is the longest shots of all longest shots will for all intents and purposes only end up electing Trump.
Many Utahns won’t vote for either Clinton or Trump because their conscience won’t allow them to. If that is the case, understand that a “conscience” vote for McMullin or any other third party candidate is only going to help elect one of the two people you don’t want. The reality is that America is a two-party system and always has been. Even before political parties formed in the nation there were two political camps forming, those who were pro-George Washington and those who were anti-George Washington. For better or worse, this is the reality given the power structure and voting methods of the American federal system. Therefore, you must determine who is the best out of Clinton and Trump and vote for them. As the other posts on this blog have pointed out, as has been amply demonstrated in many publications and as common sense and wisdom clearly dictate, the better of the two major party candidates is Clinton by lightyears.
Do not elect Trump. It will be one of Utah’s biggest regrets should Utah help put him in the White House.
Do not vote for McMullin. Vote for Clinton and get out there tomorrow to do so if you haven’t already.
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