Jumping off the Trump train

by Justin Russell ’17

My fellow Conservatives, Republicans, and Libertarians, I know how you feel this election cycle, and for that matter, your entire college experience.
You feel ashamed of your views and you are afraid to share them. Being a free thinker rather than a John Oliver mouth piece frightens you, and for good reason: Conservative speakers like Ben Shapiro and Milo Yiannopoulos are being banned from college campuses, professors spin liberal narratives as objective reality, and all the entertainment you enjoy, including sports, have been co-opted. You cannot listen to a song on Spotify or watch ESPN without being told how to think and vote.
Wikileaks has released multiple Democratic National Convention emails which reveal corruption and cover-ups. These stories, while usually devastating, are falling on the deaf ears of the narrative-driven media; maybe because they were caught colluding with the Clinton campaign. CNN even performed the nothing to see here “routine” calling it “illegal” to own the emails and urged their audience to hear about them “through us.” Reminds you of “1984,” right guys?

These bastions of free thought and expression have remorselessly elected Hillary Clinton. Despite the pay to play extortion of the Clinton Foundation, the shaming of her husband’s assault victims, her far, far, far left policies, her botching of the Benghazi situation, and her “extremely careless” handling of classified data which potentially put American lives at risk, you are told every day that the only reason you oppose Hillary is because you hate women. This is nonsense. But the alternative, our alternative, is no better.
Donald J. Trump’s campaign was viscerally exciting. Many of the real estate tycoon’s initial policies sounded vote worthy: The wall, the appointment of conservative judges, a halt of the U.S. dependency on foreign oil, and finally an “everyone is held accountable” business mentality in Washington.

Although his candidacy began hopeful, the “Trump train” has since derailed, bringing destruction and misery in its wake. Trump has become near unelectable, and if by some miracle he is elected, the situation for young conservatives and America will only get worse.

Like him or not, Trump is a parasite inside the Republican party. His thin skin, “textbook racism,” and the Trump tapes, of which there are definitely more, make him unpalatable to a majority of the electorate. Democrats will use his horrendous character as a political weapon against everyone who has either endorsed or simply not condemned him. If you need proof check out Katie McGinty’s, ’85, ads against Pat Toomey. The adverts feature Trump despite the fact that, you know, she’s not running against Trump. A Republican party that has been superimposed with the Trump logo will not survive. Democrats will win back the Senate and the House bringing about an era of unprecedented leftist policy. It will be the future of conservatism that will suffer the most.

Furthermore, Trump does not embody your beliefs nor does he like his fellow Republicans. Aside from the fact that he has been a registered Democrat most of his life, Trump wants to open libel laws that would restrict journalistic freedom, he supports “No Fly No Buy” in regards to gun ownership rights, he supports silly economic protectionist policies which would be disastrous for the economy, and he wants to punish and blackmail private businesses if they leave the United States. These are all policies that conservatives have correctly disavowed in the past, but this time we find ourselves embracing them because “He’s not Hillary.”

Don’t forget the specter of Trump TV which looms larger every day, an eerie shadow and potential proof of the belief that this campaign might have been a cheap sales trick all along.
I understand your anger, I feel it too, but you don’t need this man. We don’t need to make our situation worse just because we are desperate for a Republican executive. A Trump win will only be enjoyed momentarily but it will undoubtedly destroy the chance of a much better solution in the future.
Think about the decision that you are making on Nov. 8. Vote for someone who holds your values or vote for Trump. But be warned; at the end of the day it’s us who will be waiting in the wings with the mops and apologizing for someone who doesn’t even like us.