After Bernie Sanders was not named the nominee for the Democratic party in this year’s elections, a lot of “Bernie or Bust” supporters declared that under no circumstances would they be voting for Hillary Clinton. They presented four alternatives to block Clinton’s path to the presidency: vote for Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, Donald Trump, or write-in Sanders.
In honor of election day and therefore our last chance to block Donald Trump from the highest office of the land, here is my appeal to those voters: Clinton is your only chance of getting something even slightly resembling a Sanders presidency.
Right off the bat, let’s get something straight: Sanders wants his supporters to vote for Clinton. Even if you decide Johnson or Stein supports your views, unfortunately, they have no shot at the White House, and Clinton could still lose if the Democrat party splits or does not come out to vote. Writing in Sanders won’t work either; not only will not enough people do it, but write-ins do not count towards the electoral college in every state.
I shouldn’t have to explain how Trump is the antithesis of everything Sanders stood for, and all I can say is if you are a Sanders supporter voting for Trump, I hope you are prepared to explain to women, Latinos, Muslims, African Americans, the disabled, the poor, and members of the LGBT community why your protest vote was more important than their lives.
Here are some simple issues everyone will be voting for on Tuesday.
Free College
This was one of the points Sanders ran on: free college for all in order to elevate the new generation. Clinton supports free community college, and free four-year college education for those making $125,000 or less a year. Stein does support free college, but she also supports the abolishment of current student debt, and her plan to make that happen has been proven to be nonsensical. Johnson does not support free college, only guaranteed government loans.
Guns
Due to the position of his party on limited government, Johnson does not believe in common-sense gun laws. He thinks those on the no-fly list should be able to purchase guns, that no more gun laws should be enacted, and that school should not be gun-free zones, and Clinton lies with Sanders on the opposite end of the spectrum. Stein has no opinion on those on the no-fly list being able to purchase guns or the issue of guns in schools, but she supports banning assault weapons.
Obamacare
Senator Sanders voted in favor of the Affordable Care Act and believes that the act needs to be taken further, with a single-payer system under which federal and state governments provide healthcare for all citizens. Clinton also supports Obamacare and has no plans to repeal it. Johnson has vowed to do everything he can to repeal Obamacare, and transition to a free market style. Stein wants to transition to Medicare For All.
Affirmative Action
While Sanders had been critical of the program, he does support Affirmative Action. Johnson says that if given a bill proposed by Congress to ban Affirmative Action, he would sign it. Jill Stein has no opinion. Clinton supports the program.
There are many more issues to cover, but the general breakdown is as follows: Johnson tends to disagree with a majority of the viewpoints of Senator Sanders, while Clinton tends to agree with most of them. Stein also tends to lean towards Sanders and Clinton, but unfortunately, her opinions can often be vague (like her opinion on mandatory vaccinations) and her plans tend to not be thought out very well considering she is a presidential candidate. Not to mention, with their current polling numbers, Johnson and Stein have no chance of winning. This is without even delving into how woefully incompetent Stein and Johnson have demonstrated themselves to be in this election.
You don’t fix a system by refusing to participate in it. Vote for Johnson or Stein (or even Trump) if you feel they genuinely represent you, but if not, please understand that a protest vote does nothing to shift the system. Wait until a new president is elected to work from the ground up over four years to change it.
Do not give this country to Donald Trump out of spite.