Making choices based on less than perfect information, when the available options are all bad, is difficult.
That is certainly true of the 2020 Presidential election.
The choices as I saw them were: (1) Not vote; (2) Vote for Biden; (3) Vote for Trump; or (4) Vote Libertarian.
(There are other party choices, like the Green Party, but given my ideology, these are not options for me.)
The Libertarian choice was eliminated in my mind almost immediately. Gary Johnson was a one-time Republican and Governor of New Mexico. If he was unable to do significantly well in 2016, then the current Libertarian candidate wasn’t going to do better, plus, I didn’t know anything about her. There are some real “kooks” in the Libertarian Party and, for all I know, she could be one of them.
The next choice is a vote for Biden. The Democratic Party has gone too far to the left for me to consider voting Democratic. After rioting in major US cities, the Democratic response was to call for “de-funding the police”, and to say that race-rioting and looting by black people is excused because of nebulous “concepts” like “white privilege” and “systemic racism”.
The Democratic Party in states like California and New York also responded to the COVID-19 crisis by enforcing “lock-downs”. They made it impossible for lower class and service industry people to work by shutting down bars, restaurants, and other businesses. It was a fundamental attack on the right to freedom of contract, property, and to live. I assume that if Joe Biden becomes President, he will attempt to impose the same policies on a national level.
Additionally, Joe Biden is elderly. He is 77 years old. After four years, he will be 81. Four years after that he will be 85. The average American male lives to be about 76. There is a real possibility that his running-mate may become President due to his death or incapacity. Joe Biden may not be in favor of “de-funding the police”, but Kamalla Harris won’t give a straight answer on the question. Even the Austin American Statesman, a left-wing newspaper, in a left-wing city, noted that:
“In an early June episode of ‘The View,’ host Meghan McCain asked Harris: ‘Are you for de-funding the police?’ After some back-and-forth about the definition, Harris demurred….On June 25, she said: ‘For far too long, the status quo thinking has been to believe that by putting more police on the street, you’re going to have more safety — and that’s just wrong.’…While Harris has alluded to some key points of the ‘defund the police’ movement, she hasn’t offered her support. The Hill reported in June that, before she joined the Biden campaign, Harris was trying to ‘straddle the divide on the left over police reform.'” (https://www.statesman.com/news/20201009/fact-check-does-kamala-harris-support-police-defunding)
I think this sort of “political triangulation” and “pragmatism” by Harris, of not wanting to say she opposes de-funding the police, while also not saying she supports it, will eventually mean total capitulation by her to the left wing of her party:
“There can be no compromise between a property owner and a burglar; offering the burglar as single teaspoon of one’s silverware would not be a compromise, but a total surrender -the recognition of his right to one’s property.” (“Doesn’t Life Require Compromise”, Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness, https://courses.aynrand.org/works/doesnt-life-require-compromise/ )
The Democratic Party wants to ban all privately-owned guns so that no one can defend themselves, and it also wants to eliminate all police. The consequence will be victimization of the law-abiding by force-initiators. The desire of that party to eliminate one of the few, legitimate functions of government in favor of more taxes, regulation and welfare is too far. The Democratic party has completely capitulated to evil with the push to “de-fund police”.
Additionally, the Democratic Party Controls the US House of Representatives, and will almost certainly control it after the election. At this point, the Republicans may continue to control the Senate, or it could be a 50-50 split, or even in Democratic hands. Keeping a Democrat out of the White House is the best way to ensure divided government, since the Senate might end up in Biden’s hands if it is a 50-50 split. (Kamalla Harris, as Vice President would break ties.) I didn’t vote Republican in 2016 in part because they controlled the the US House and the Senate. A Democratic President could only do so much damage. (Laws like the Affordable Care Act and Dodd-Frank came about during the first two years of the Obama Administration, when Democrats controlled both the legislative and executive branches.)
I disagree with Trump on his immigration policies. I disagree with the idea of “building a wall” at the border. I disagree with him on issues like abortion, and tariffs on international trade. He doesn’t understand what made America Great in the first place. It was economic freedom and respect for private property rights. Environmental laws and other regulations are largely responsible for the off-shoring of US industrial production of items like pharmaceuticals.
I don’t disagree with Trump’s decision not to impose a national lock-down on COVID-19. Pandemic response is largely a matter for the states under the Constitution, and that is one of the major issues in this year’s elections. I think Trump’s biggest mistake was encouraging states to take such measures.
I could have not voted for President, which was a close second to what I did. But, in the end, too much has happened to just sit on the sidelines. COVID-19 state-government-enforced restrictions on freedom, and race-based looting in major cities makes that an unacceptable decision this year. I certainly think reasonable minds can disagree with my decision. I’m operating on a spectrum of probability, with less than perfect information.
So, I voted for Donald Trump. With a Democratic House of Representatives to act as a “check” for at least the next two years, I think divided government is the best option from a bad set of choices.