Voting Guide for November
June 23, 2024
Shortly after Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies, one of my FB friends (someone I don’t really know well) posted that she was still on the fence regarding which candidate should get her vote. Considering how polarized we’ve become, it’s hard for me to believe that there’s anyone left who doesn’t have a strong feeling in either direction, especially since the differences between the candidates and the direction each would take the country are so stark, but apparently there are people in this category.
In response, I’ve put together the following list of reasons to vote for Trump for anyone who still may be undecided, in order to help people consider the impact a second Trump presidency would have on our lives both immediately and in the long-term, and to help people determine if a vote for Trump and Republicans aligns with their consciences.
COMPETENCY – DO YOU THINK GOOD REFERENCES COUNT?
Vote for Trump IF: You’re the kind of person who, when seeking to fill a leadership position in your company, would have no qualms about hiring someone who was NOT recommended by 40 out of 44 of the job candidate’s former employees/co-workers, the very people who knew him best in a work situation. Vote for Trump if you’d be completely unconcerned about hiring someone whose former co-workers used words to describe him such as “troubled,” “unfit,” and who said things like “God help us” if he gets the job. (See: Of 44 Members of Trump's Cabinet, Just 4 Endorsed Him for 2024: NBC - Business Insider Full List of Former Donald Trump Officials Refusing to Endorse Him - Newsweek Dozens served in Trump’s Cabinet. Four say he should be re-elected. (nbcnews.com) Analysis: Mark Esper was asked if Trump was a threat to democracy. Here’s what he said. | CNN Politics )
WOMEN’S INDEPENDENCE AND AUTONOMY – ARE YOU FOR OR AGAINST?
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You think that all across the country, pregnant women should not be able to access life- and health-saving medical care until they’re at the brink of death, as what is currently happening now in red states in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade being overturned by the reactionary Supreme Court stacked with Federalist Society justices by Donald Trump. Vote for Trump and Republicans if you’re willing to gamble that no one you care about will ever need emergency abortion healthcare. (See: Delayed and denied: Women pushed to death's door for abortion care in post-Roe America - ABC News (go.com) Pregnancy care has changed in alarming ways since Louisiana banned abortion : Shots - Health News : NPR Report: Maternal Mortality Has Been Higher in Abortion-Restricting States | Best States | U.S. News (usnews.com)
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You think that 10-year-old rape victims should be forced to continue their pregnancies until term (or more likely until they miscarry, permanently damaging or destroying their reproductive systems in the process), as what Ohio tried to do to a little girl in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade being overturned by the reactionary Supreme Court stacked with Federalist Society justices by Donald Trump. (See: 2022 Ohio child-rape and Indiana abortion case - Wikipedia Ohio girl, 10, among abortion patients in Indiana amid state bans (usatoday.com) Ohio minors sought abortions out of state after being sexually assaulted, affidavits say (nbcnews.com) Man indicted in rape of Ohio girl, 10, who traveled to Indiana for abortion (nbcnews.com)
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You think that every state should be able to investigate women who miscarry ( between 10 and 15% of pregnancies) and threaten to prosecute them, as Ohio did recently. (See: Ohio woman who suffered miscarriage at home will not be criminally charged, grand jury says | CNN Ohio woman who miscarried won't be charged, jury says | AP News )
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You think that people across the country who desperately want children, but who have problems conceiving naturally, should be denied the chance to become parents through IVF treatment, as the Republican-led Alabama Supreme Court tried to do. (For now, Alabama politicians voted to protect IVF, but Republicans in Congress have been opposed to protecting that right.) (See: Alabama bill to protect IVF signed into law by governor - ABC News Physicians share concerns over IVF treatments pausing after Alabama court ruling - ABC News (go.com) Senate Republicans block Democratic bill to protect IVF nationwide (nbcnews.com) Republicans Say They Want to Protect IVF, But Refuse to Actually Do It | Vanity Fair Republicans under scrutiny for supporting conception bill in wake of Alabama IVF ruling | CNN Politics Senate Republicans block bill on women’s right to IVF | AP News )
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You think that many safe, reliable forms of contraception should be illegal. (See: GOP's 2025 Plan: Attack Birth Control, Surveil Women and Ban Abortion (rollingstone.com) Republicans rejected Right to Contraception Act. Why? To control women (usatoday.com) Clarence Thomas says right to contraception in Griswold v. Connecticut was 'erroneous' - The Washington Post )
MASS MURDER MACHINES IN YOUR COMMUNITY – MORE OR LESS?
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You’d like the violent, angry 19-year-old who lives a few blocks away from your child or grandchild’s school to be able to easily and quickly obtain a military-caliber weapon with bump stock, giving him the ability to slaughter 60 people in a matter of minutes. Vote for Trump and Republicans if you’re willing to gamble that when the next AR-15 massacre happens, it won’t kill or leave a gaping hole in the heart of you or anyone you love. (See: Supreme Court rules ban on gun bump stocks is unlawful (nbcnews.com) Why Republicans Won’t Budge on Gun Control - The New York Times (nytimes.com) )
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You think it’s unfair that red states typically have more gun homicides than blue states, and you’d like to solve that issue by weakening gun safety laws on a federal basis so that there are no places in the country where people can be safe from red-state-level gun violence. (See: States With the Highest Gun Death Rates | Best States | U.S. News (usnews.com) What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. | Pew Research Center Firearm Law Effects Tool | RAND )
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You’re upset that, in terms of the rate of gun deaths, the United States still ranks behind war-torn countries and central-American countries run by drug cartels, and you’d like the U.S. to move up on that list. (See: Rate of gun violence deaths In U.S. is higher than much of the world : Goats and Soda : NPR How the U.S. Compares to the World on Guns | Best Countries | U.S. News (usnews.com) )
INFLATION –EXTRA TARIFFS ON TOP OF POST-PANDEMIC HIGH PRICES – GOOD OR BAD?
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: In response to today’s high inflation, you think that it would be a good idea to have to pay an EXTRA 10% in tariffs on foreign goods (with presumably a corresponding increase in domestic goods as corporate monopolies in the U.S. leverage their competitive advantage to reward their shareholders with even greater un-earned income). (See: Trump is proposing a 10% tariff. Economists say that amounts to a $1,700 tax on Americans. - CBS News Trump’s new trade war would cost middle-class families at least $1,700 a year, report warns | CNN Business )
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You think you’re wealthy enough to come out ahead if Donald Trump enacts his plan to repeal the income tax and instead fund the government by levying excessive (approximately 69.9%) tariffs on everything we buy. (See: Trump floats eliminating U.S. income tax and replacing it with tariffs on imports (cnbc.com) Trump Income Tax and Tariff Proposals: Details & Analysis (taxfoundation.org) )
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You’re opposed to the Biden administration’s plans to crack down on corporate price gouging. (See: FACT SHEET: President Biden Is Taking Action to Lower Costs for Families and Fight Corporate Rip-Offs | The White House Biden Warns Companies: 'It's Time to Stop the Price Gouging' - Business Insider Biden Warns Companies: 'It's Time to Stop the Price Gouging' - Business Insider )
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You don’t care that many experts have indicated that Trump’s proposed economic policies will drive inflation UP, because you believe the magical theory that prices will automatically revert to what they were during a president’s previous term upon that president’s reelection. (But if that magical theory is true, then I would suggest rushing to re-elect Jimmy Carter while he’s still alive {as of June 2024}. 1970s-era grocery prices would be great!) (See: Trump’s economic agenda would make inflation a whole lot worse - Vox Trump Vows to Lower Prices. Some of His Policies May Raise Them. - The New York Times (nytimes.com) )
SOCIAL SAFETY NETS AND KINDNESS – GOOD OR BAD?
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You want to do away with Social Security altogether, or you’re confident that when Republicans chisel away at Social Security as they’ve planned to do for years, it will only impact younger generations and not your own benefits. (See: Trump just floated Social Security cuts. Take him seriously. - Vox Trump vs. Biden: Where candidates stand on Social Security, Medicare (cnbc.com) Donald Trump has been all over the map on Social Security and Medicare (nbcnews.com) Republican budget would raise the age of retirement for Social Security (nbcnews.com) FACT SHEET: Congressional Republicans’ Many Proposals to Cut Social Security and Medicare, and Increase Prescription Drug Prices and Health Care Premiums | The White House
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You think the WORST thing that could happen to the United States would be if liberals are able to enact policies that provide more services and a more robust social safety net, like they have in liberal countries across the globe that are consistently ranked the happiest, with the best quality of life, and you want to prevent that at all costs. (See: These are the world’s happiest countries in 2024 | CNN World Happiness Report 2024: Finland is the happiest country (cnbc.com) Best Countries for Quality of Life | U.S. News (usnews.com) )
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: The direction you want for the U.S. is for the country to be more like the autocratic dictatorship they have in Viktor Orban’s Hungary. (See: What Viktor Orbán's CPAC appearance tells us about Trump, GOP (nbcnews.com) American conservatives embrace Hungary’s authoritarian leader at Budapest conference | CNN Politics )
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You think the WORST thing in this country is that too many people are too opposed to bigotry (i.e., they’re too “woke”), and you hate the idea of diversity, you are appalled at the thought of equity, and you’re completely opposed to inclusion. (See: To Republicans, Decency is "Woke" (johnpavlovitz.com) What does 'woke' mean and why are some conservatives using it? - ABC News (go.com) Actually, it’s good to be woke (thehill.com)
EQUAL RIGHTS FOR YOUR LGBTQ RELATIVES, NEIGHBORS, AND CO-WORKERS – ARE YOU FOR OR AGAINST?
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You’re appalled that same-sex couples currently have marriage equality and can choose to marry the people they love, and you want to invalidate the marriages of the gay and lesbian people you know. (See: Supreme Court Just Countered Landmark Gay Marriage Ruling, Sotomayor Warns - Newsweek Thomas wants the Supreme Court to overturn landmark rulings that legalized contraception, same-sex marriage (nbcnews.com) )
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You want discrimination against LGBTQ people to be legal. (See: What the Supreme Court's gay wedding website ruling means for LGBTQ rights (nbcnews.com) Supreme Court sides with Colorado web designer in blow to LGBTQ protections : NPR)
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You’ve never been to a drag-queen brunch, or enjoyed watching nonbinary cross-dressing entertainers so you want to make sure this form of entertainment is illegal for everyone. (See: Tennessee becomes first state in 2023 to restrict drag performances | CNN Politics The anti-drag bill passed in Tennessee is straight from history's playbooks : NPR )
CORRUPTION – COOL FOR UNELECTED BILLIONAIRES TO SET ALL THE RULES?
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You think it’s perfectly fine for Supreme Court justices to be wined and dined and treated to lavish vacations/excursions by right-wing billionaire oligarchs who have an interest in cases that will be in front of the highest court in the land. (See: Justice Clarence Thomas took more trips on GOP megadonor’s private plane than previously known | CNN Politics Justice Alito fishing trip: Calling this an ethics scandal misses the point. (slate.com) )
DEMOCRACY – GOOD OR OVERRATED?
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You think that our Founding Fathers got it wrong when they broke free from the British monarchy, and you’d prefer to go back to living under the rule of one wealthy man who is above the law and all accountability. (See: Trump asks Supreme Court for 'absolute immunity' in election interference case (nbcnews.com) Donald Trump repeats remark he'd be dictator on 'one day' if reelected (usatoday.com) )
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You trust that because Trump is a cartoonish former reality TV personality with a penchant for saying dumb/unhinged things, he and his Republican cohorts/wannabe successors don’t really pose a long-term threat to democracy. (See: How Trump's Constitutional Bullying Is a Threat to Democracy | TIME 4 threats to US democracy: Election theft, minority rule, voter suppression, and an unfit GOP - Vox Trump is not the only threat to democracy | Brookings )
Vote for Trump and Republicans IF: You’ll be proud if future generations can look back on your vote for Republicans as the point when the U.S. surrendered its Democracy and U.S. citizens lost their ability to choose their own leaders. (See: Trump second term agenda: Would guardrails of democracy hold him back? - Vox Fiona Hill: If Trump Runs and Wins in 2024, 'Democracy's Done' - Business Insider Project 2025: The Trump presidency wish list, explained (bbc.com) Project 2025 led by the Heritage Foundation, explained (usatoday.com) )
CONCLUSION
If you agree with all or most of the above scenarios and policies, and you want the country to go in the direction that Trump and the Republicans want to take us, then you’ll be voting according to your conscience if you vote for them. But if nearly all of the scenarios and policies listed above sound terrible to you, or strike you with fear, then please DON’T vote for Trump or any Republicans out of a misguided belief that Republicans are somehow “conservative” and will help working people instead of their true clientele of multi-millionaires and billionaires. Please don’t vote for Trump and Republicans because you’ve been hoodwinked by cheap-fake videos on Fox and other right-wing media networks that are misleadingly cut to make Biden look bad. Please don’t vote for Trump and against your own principles because you believe the ridiculous right-wing propaganda that comes across your social media feed falsely accusing liberals of wanting to abort babies “after-birth” (not true), or make “gay porn” part of the kindergarten curriculum (not true), or force schools to place kitty litter boxes in restrooms to accommodate people who identify as “furries (not true).” Obviously, these and similar outrageous claims are untethered from reality. Please recognize that these lies are meant to whip more moderate people like you into a frenzied fear of imaginary evils in order to trick you into voting against your own best interests and the interests of your family. If you don’t want to live in the ACTUAL, non-Democratic, oppressive world that will result from ACTUAL Republican policies and goals, please don’t fall for it.
Even though this is really only a partial list, I hope it helps with your decision in November.
