A Letter to the Editor

[I've been really bothered by the plans of a lot of Texas Republicans to vote for Hillary Clinton because they consider her the easier one to beat in the fall. This has been especially troubling since the Republican factor seems to have moved her to a tie or a narrow lead in the polls, whereas he had a 5-6 point lead in polls two days ago. Of course, I'm an Obama supporter, but I guarantee you I would be bothered by these circumstances no matter what candidate was being manipulated.

Anyway, I got into rather a debate today with two colleagues at the school who are McCain supporters actually planning to vote for Hillary. I ended up airing my complaints in a letter to the Abilene Reporter News editor. I think it'll be published. They emailed me back when I submitted it and asked for a more edited version to publish. I sent it in. Whether or not they publish it, here it is.]

Dear Citizens,

I was troubled today, visiting with some of my conservative friends at school, to learn that they plan to vote Tuesday for Hillary Clinton. They do not consider her the best candidate. They, instead, consider Clinton the most beatable against McCain.

I wasn’t surprised that some people consider voting in this way. Eight years ago, when I was a junior in high school, I convinced my father, an Al Gore supporter, not to cast his primary vote for John McCain. What he considered a small statement against Bush, I considered dishonesty. Without much effort, my father, who had always taught me to ‘let my yes be yes,’ was convinced to do the right thing.

What surprised me today was that my colleagues recognized the ethical turpitude of their choice, but they, nevertheless, have remained steadfast in their intentions to vote for Clinton. Clearly, a vote cast for a candidate you do not support is a lie. Clearly, it breaches trust to vote in the Democratic primary when you do not support a Democratic candidate. Clearly, it is a violation of trust to vote for a candidate you do not want to win. My colleagues saw these realities but remain convinced that it is acceptable to disregard ethics when it comes to politics. You do whatever it takes to win.

I disagree with them. The ends do not justify the means. Casting a vote in the opposition party’s primary for the most beatable candidate may be good politics. But, without doubt, it’s bad ethics.

So, my appeal is to please vote with honor. Vote for the candidate you want to win. Let your yes be yes. Don’t let your vote be a lie.

Sincerely,
John Pierce