Evan McMullin is a militaristic war hawk; he believes in a dangerous free-market fundamentalism; he is a conservative who opposes Trump; he is the best of the third party candidates to run in the past election; he is a man of honesty, patriotism and intelligence; he is a manifestation of the greatest hope for preserving our nation’s future.
All of these statements are true, and their veracity reveals an extraordinary reality of American politics. Since the election, Trump opponents have been searching aimlessly for leadership, for any elected official to stand up to Trump. From Republicans we have heard nothing but the complicity of men who would betray their country and its ideals to enact their cherished policy of gutting our social safety net. From Democrats we have heard attacks on Trump’s policies, but also disunity, infighting and an unwillingness to loudly defend democracy. But McMullin has stood proudly against Trump, and for our country.
McMullin ran a presidential campaign focused on the state of Utah, where he garnered over 20% of the vote. He received far less media attention than fellow candidates Jill Stein and Gary Johnson. But while Stein and Johnson ran petty campaigns focused on bizarre policies, McMullin ran on human rights and democratic values.
Many Trump opponents are liberals, as am I, and we find it hard to rally around a man like McMullin who opposes many policies we hold dear. But it is about time to realize that the political differences between Trump and patriotic, democratic Americans like McMullin are orders of magnitude greater than the policy debates that separate liberals and conservatives.
It is humbling for me to consider, as it should be for us all, but the political debates which I have spent years passionately arguing, and to which many have devoted their lives, are comparatively petty. The stakes of a Trump presidency go far beyond arcane discussions of tax policy or legitimate debates of social issues.
Our very democracy is as stake. Too many see that as an abstract, but it is all too real. Democracy is what forces the government to pay attention to its citizens, it is what makes our lives and livelihoods matter to our leaders, it is everything.
We must look wherever we can to oppose Trump, whether people in our everyday lives who, whatever their disagreements with us, still believe in liberal democracy, or leaders like Evan McMullin, a man who has put his life on the line for our country, and who fights to defend it to this day. Policies are important, but that defense of our rights and values is all that has ever really mattered.
