I asked a good friend, who I think is as liberal as I am, for recommendations on some of the down-ballot races. He’s a lawyer and I’m not, so I thought he’d know some of the many judges on the ballot. But when I got his recommendations, I ended up emailing him this:
On many of the down-ballot races you recommended Republicans.
Maybe they’re good folks. But at this point their party is the party of lies, racism, xenophobia, science denial, torture, and crimes against humanity. I won’t vote for anyone who ties their name to that platform, no matter how loosely. They need to run as independents, or start a new conservative party. I only hope anyone who suffers himself or herself to be called a Republican gets soundly rejected, IF ONLY FOR THAT. The name itself is poison. I’d be happy for you to pass this on to all the Republicans whom you endorsed.
I’m refusing to vote for anyone who runs as a Republican. If there were a Libertarian candidate he’d recommended, I’d consider voting for that person, but there wasn’t. In one race I’ll vote for the Libertarian to vote against the Republican since there’s no Democrat to vote for.
It’s a long time since Tip O’Neill said, “All politics is local.” This year, for me, all politics is national. I’ve said before we need (or at least conservatives need) to have a sane, responsible party to vote for. I don’t think they’ll be able to form one until the GOP crashes into oblivion.