Dear Hillary Clinton,
I haven’t been one of your biggest fans and I still think that the DNC used some dirty tricks to defeat Bernie Sanders in the primaries, but today I’m ready to put that behind me. Until last night, my only reason to vote for you over Jill Stein would have been to make certain that Mr. Trump is not elected president of our country. Since I live in California, I thought I had the luxury of waiting to see how the election was going in the rest of the county before casting my vote. And that was my plan – to wait until the last hour to choose you or Jill Stein. Since California is not a swing state, it was highly likely that I could have used my vote as a form of protest without risking Trump winning.
Last night my plan changed. When I listened to Donald Trump hedge about ceding to the winner during last night’s debate, I knew it isn’t enough just to make sure you win, it is paramount that you win in such overwhelming, indisputable numbers that Mr. Trump’s accusations of rigging look ludicrous. It is critical that any refusal on his part to accept the wish of the majority makes him look like a sore loser to his supporters.
So this morning, I completed my absentee ballot with the bubble next to Hillary Clinton filled in. And I am going to beg all of my friends who are considering a vote for Jill Stein to do the same, because there is only one way to prevent the terrorism of the hordes Trump is instigating to violence and chaos after he loses, and that his to soundly whump him in the polls beyond all dispute.
Please do not take my vote as a blanket approval of your past policy decisions, or your cozy relationship with Wall Street or your predisposition to war, or your support of Israel’s oppression of Palestine. While I cheer your clear support of marriage equality and every woman’s right to make her own medical decisions, after your election I intend to rally my folks to hold you to your promises to advance all of the progressive positions you have lately added to your campaign. Mostly, I will press you to take bold actions toward addressing climate change, something that supersedes everything.
If we end up with Trump’s racist minions terrorizing us after this election, our President will be justified in calling for martial law, and it will set a dangerous precedent against all kinds of protest in the future. We already have a militarized police and this would further empower them. A highly-armed, violent, radical right uprising after the election could destroy what we have left of the First Amendment and democracy itself. My progressive friends will not have the option of holding Clinton to her promises if we can’t take to the streets. So our directive is not just to make certain Trump is not elected, it is to defeat him beyond question, so his most radical supporters know they do not represent the majority, and hopefully, they will reject the sore-loser trumpet call to violence.
With that argument, I hope to persuade anyone considering a vote for anyone other than Hillary Clinton that this is not the time for it. Please join me in making this an unquestionable win for Hillary Clinton so that the only thing we need to worry about on November 9th is planning Bernie Sander’s non-violent, progressive revolution.