Yes, I voted for a candidate who has been labeled as being racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, a misogynist, a bigot, and every other adjective you can find in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Simply put, I voted for Trump for the same reasons that every single conservative has always voted for the Republican candidate: stronger foreign policy, free market, small businesses, the 2nd Amendment, stronger military, and of course, anti-abortion. I exercised my right as an American to vote for the candidate of my choosing whose values and stance on important social issues best lines up with my own. I have done absolutely nothing wrong, yet several members of the liberal left have ridiculed myself and others for having an opinion, for having a choice, and for having a right as an American to both of those things.
Because I voted for Trump, people seem to automatically assume that I am OK with everything he has said and done over the course of his campaign and life. I'm not.
Because I voted for Trump, people seem to automatically assume that I will follow him blindly. I won't.
Because I voted for Trump, people seem to automatically assume that I support racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, misogyny, and bigotry. I don't.
People will say that I may not personally be a racist, sexist, or xenophobe, but that all those things come with the package that is Donald Trump. People will say that I may not hate others, but that I just don't care about them.
My question to them, is since when did being conservative mean that you don't care about people?
Since when did voting Republican mean that I, Daniel Sullivan, your friend, your brother, do not care about people?
As my old trumpet teacher's son put it, I should not have to try to prove that I care about people, and that I am not a racist, sexist, homophobe, xenophobe, misogynist, or bigot. The fact that myself and other Republicans around the country are even being questioned about those things is a problem in and of itself.
I find it slightly ironic that one of the things my liberal friends stand most strongly against is discrimination and putting people in socially-constructed boxes, yet as a Republican, I seem to find myself thrown into a box labeled, "Fascist Trump Supporters," which in truth ought to read, "Trump Supporters, As Seen On TV." It is scary how quickly people will assume that myself and others are just like the extremist Trump supporters that have been shown on television. It is scary how quickly a group of people will essentially tell Christian Conservatives of principal to go to hell for the choice they made on a presidential election ballot.
There's a part of me that can't help but wonder if I would still be in the box I'm in had Hillary Clinton won the election instead of Donald Trump. I can't help but wonder if the box that I've been placed in has been constructed from the wood of an angry lumberjack who is simply upset that the election did not go the way that he (and most of the country) wanted it to go. If anger has fueled the lumberjack's rage that has been used to construct the box of which I have been placed in, would I still be placed in box had the lumberjack gotten what he wanted? It is a question that puts the overall character and maturity of my politically opposite friends in the spotlight.
I mentioned earlier that I am a Christian Conservative of principal, and you may be wondering what exactly that means, especially since I had the "audacity" to vote for "someone like Trump."
What it means is that at the end of the day, I simply refuse to compromise on the values that have formed the core of who I've been for my entire life.
Donald Trump has said and done some terrible, horrible things. He has said and done some things that can easily be argued as being nonpresidential, or even inhumane.
I am not proud of the man I voted for, but hell would freeze over before I voted for a candidate who believes that an unborn child does not have the right to life. Hell would freeze over before I agreed that a woman's voice mattered more than the voice of the unborn child growing inside of her. If voting for a candidate whose view on an issue such as abortions which best reflects my own means that I am somehow an ignorant fool who does not care about people, then so be it.
Yes, I voted for Donald Trump, but I will always bend over backwards and break my back at a moment's notice if I saw someone on the side of the road being attacked or publicly harassed. It does not matter to me if that person is a man or woman, black or white, Christian or Muslim, or if they are gay or straight. I would not hesitate in risking my life to let them know that I have their back and that they are cared for.
When all is said and done, I predict that this article will do little to change people's post-election views about me. If you are disappointed in me, then continue to be disappointed. I have absolutely zero shame in who I voted for in the 2016 presidential election.
What does it mean to be a Christian Conservative of principal?
It means that instead of seeing Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton as "he said mean things and she didn't," I chose to see the election as someone who represented my values and someone who did not. Someone who was pro-life and someone who was pro-choice.
If that somehow makes me a fascist, bigot, racist, sexist, misogynist, xenophobe, homophobe, or someone who in no way cares about the well-being of his fellow man or woman, then I must apologize, because you truly do not know me at all.
