I'm not kidding. Every bit of assholery helps. Call him names. Make bad arguments. Mock his supporters. Yeah, that will help a lot.
I'm not talking about stuff that is actually funny--although be careful with humor. I thought Trump was funny when he mocked Clinton at the All Smith dinner. She laughed along with everyone else. And she was funny mocking him. But he went too far. His last few jokes went flat, and a lot of the good will that he'd gained was lost.
But stuff that isn't funny? Please stay away from it.
Please don't be a jerk. You're just helping someone that you don't like. Or hurting someone (a friend) who you do like.
Think about it. It's human behavior to withdraw when you're hurt. And it's also human behavior to want to strike back when you're hurt.
And if you get someone mad enough, and the best way to strike back at you hurts them, too--well, so what.
I've done that in my life.
I'm not proud of that, but I admit it. I guess that makes me human.
Imagine someone who is a principled conservative and who has--because of those principles, almost always voted Republican. They oppose liberals and the Democrats reflexively--as well as reflectively. They dislike Hillary Clinton way more than they dislike most Democrats. Maybe they even hate her.
And now their party has picked Donald J. Trump. And they are not happy about it.
If you're that person, and you look at some of Trump's policy positions alongside some of Clinton's you favor his positions. On the basis of intellectual choice of policy positions, he'd be your preferred candidate.
But imagine that you're that person, and you've come to see things about Trump that you dislike. Maybe things that are worrisome. Still, you oppose Clinton both intellectually and viscerally. What do you do?
In a safe state, you know your vote won't decide the election. If you're in Idaho, Trump will win, regardless of what you do. If in California, it's going to be Clinton.
If you're that person, and most of your friends and family are conservatives who are likely to vote for the Republican (who just happens to be Trump)--if for no other reason than most of their friends and family are mostly conservatives and likely to vote for the Republican--then failing to vote for the Republican is letting down your side.
I'd feel that way if the situation was reversed.
So even in safe states, your vote matters. Maybe only to you. Maybe to friends and family--if they knew how you'd voted. It matters.
So what do you do? I think you feel conflicted. Maybe you vote your tribe--because your tribe matters. Maybe you vote for Gary Johnson. Maybe you don't vote for anyone.
Maybe you don't tell anyone what you're going to do--or what you've done. Why get in needless arguments with people you care about? Maybe you feel bad about that. Maybe you don't. I don't know, but I wouldn't want to be that person.
It's a balancing act. You're balancing one set of values against another set and another set and another set. Every answer is displeasing. None is easily made.
And then someone comes along and helps you make your decision, by acting like a total jerk. Fuck you. I'll vote for Trump. I don't like him, but you pissed me off.
So liberals, you can make a difference. You can tip the balance. You can cause someone to vote based on a different principle. Not the principle of loyalty. Not the principle of concern. But the principle of fuck you, asshole, take that!
Please don't.
And don't make bad arguments against Trump. Assuming you want to actually want to discuss--rather than name call--there are some good arguments and some bad ones.
But that's a subject for another post.
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