Good for you! Don’t let anyone bully you into a vote, ever! Your conscience alone is your guide, and your vote is yours alone. it’s not fodder for someone else’s strategy. You are going to come under a lot of pressure in the coming weeks to vote for Clinton because if you don’t, “it’s a vote for Trump.”
But it’s not. A vote for Trump is a vote for Trump. Nothing else. People have all kinds of valid reasons to refuse to vote for Clinton. Maybe they have a relative killed in Iraq. Maybe someone you know died before they got to marry their loved one because Clinton was spectacularly late to the notion that gay people are normal humans. Who knows? That’s up to every individual.
Back in the day, I refused to vote for Al Gore. I just couldn’t. Because of Joe Lieberman. Lyin’ Joe was very busy attacking my livelihood, and the idea that this obviously conservative snake was a heartbeat from the Presidency was just too much. Nothing that happened after that in any way makes me think my protest was a mistake. My state was already deeply in the Gore camp, so I wasn’t going to sway the election or anything. But I sure as hell wasn't going to give my personal endorsement to a Joe Lieberman ticket. I wouldn’t today, either. So I get it.
I’m a strong Sanders supporter, and I’m going to vote for Clinton. For me, it’s not a terribly difficult decision. Weighing all the factors, I think we’ll be just fine. Whatever else happens, we’ll have up to three shiny new SCOTUS justices ready to overturn all the nonsense rulings like Citizens United. And we won’t have policies built on fear, division, racism and certainly not sexism. I won’t agree with everything, and I suspect I’ll be spitting mad from time to time. I’m going in with my eyes wide open.
But I won’t be doing it because “if I don’t, it’s a vote for Trump.” Don’t let them tell you that — it’s a crappy justification for a vote you can’t make in good conscience, and it’s frankly bullying. Instead, all I ask is that you keep an open mind and let Clinton try to earn your vote. She owes that to you, and you owe that to her. Your vote is valuable. It’s important. And it’s not for sale.