2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Why I don't think I will be able to vote for Clinton if Sanders fails... [View all]malthaussen
(17,241 posts)One may choose not to vote because he thinks the whole system is bogus, but if he is willing to buy into the system so far as to support a candidate, then he should also be willing to buy into the need to exercise a degree of damage control if the preferred candidate doesn't make the cut. Ultimately, a vote is not a moral choice, or even an intellectual one, but a choice to hand power to the individual who will do the least damage to one's own interests. This is not a "positive" argument, but neither is the choice when it is between being bled slowly or bled all at once.
I think it is an intellectual error to conflate the exercise of the franchise with "support" or "agreeing" with a candidate. Because as the system stands now, exercise of the franchise often comes down to voting for someone whom you think will be less damaging than the opposition. In such a case, Hillary with all her warts is still superior to anything the other side has to offer. To what degree she is superior depends on one's own preferences.
-- Mal