If you voted in the primaries and did not get the outcome you would have liked, a third- party option is completely valid and in most cases acceptable. On Nov. 8, Massachusetts will go blue. It’s no guess or prediction; it’s just a statistical fact. From the Federal government, all of the Massachusetts delegation are democrats; some have even been labeled as progressives in the party. Massachusetts is the pinnacle of Democratic Establishment politics and will safely be in Hillary’s hands in less than a month.
If you’re like myself and still “feeling the Bern” do not be afraid to vote for Jill Stein. As a progressive, I see Clinton and myself with little in common.
If you are one of those fiscal conservatives or libertarians, a candidate who may or may not know the capital of Syria such as Governor Johnson, might suit you better than a candidate who recently joked about sexual assault.
For myself, the Democratic Party is dividing as the Democratic Establishment lacks the ability to tackle issues such as campaign finance reform, corporate welfare and mass income inequality. Clinton’s flip flop history on social issues like same sex marriage, her lack of support for consumer protection laws with credit agencies, as well as her inability to explain her wealthy campaign donors to whom she’s liable, do not allow me to find confidence in her being a middle class-focused President.
As a registered democrat, I can say that although a Clinton presidency is without a doubt the lesser of two evils, it is simply wrong on my conscience. How could I vote for a candidate with such an inconsistent voting record and with clear financial ties to Wall Street banks and firms, whose recklessness and loose regulatory procedures led us to the near worst economic period since the Great Depression?
To those who believe that we must vote Clinton to prevent Trump, your scare tactics are not only sickening but demeaning to the democratic process. If you voted in the primaries and still see the two major candidates as heavily questionable ,you have more than enough reason to vote your conscience. It is not your fault that 91 percent of Americans sat on the couch.
To those who chose to nominate Clinton who nearly trails within the margin of error compared to Senator Sanders, who had a clear 10-point advantage over Donald Trump, this is your battle. I would think the Superdelegate process would do its job by selecting the best statistical chance candidate possible but instead here we are.
To the battleground states, you are an exception. When national polls come out for Clinton and Trump, they should be ignored because they don’t matter. What matters are the polls in the battleground states such as Ohio, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia. The candidate that polls ahead in battleground states usually, if not always, wins the presidency. Although my home state is probably going to Trump, it is within a small margin, as to where voting for Clinton would do better than anything and not wasted, as it would be in Massachusetts.
Progressives need to continue their fight and know that the dream of equal opportunity and long-term economic solutions for Americans is not dead. A vote for Stein here in Massachusetts will not affect the possibility of a Trump presidency. So Progressives, vote your heart, and make your choice one that is truly yours.
