Your vote isn’t special. There will be no university-style “safe spaces” at polling places this year.
No one cares about your feelings. What we’ll give the 2016 candidates on November 8th is our vote—not our opinions, not our emotions and certainly not our endorsements. Most don’t deserve that.
Your vote is not an endorsement. This isn’t about your emotions. It’s about your future. It is a choice for the strategic and practical direction of your country.
The process for choosing our nation’s leaders has become less about vision and viability and more about personalities. “Likability” is now the determining factor for electability. However, the 2016 election cannot digress into a popularity contest. There is too much at stake.
We should choose a leader that prioritizes directness, not weakness—who cherishes authenticity, not duplicity.
The American people must vote for capability, not likability.
A sensationalist’s dream.
It was a weekend for the proverbial history books: “scandalous” Trump tapes from 2005, a damning document dump by WikiLeaks on Hillary Clinton, and the second presidential debate.
As for the debate, Trump handily beat Hillary in the town-hall style forum with a better understanding of reality and a commanding, authentic and presidential tone.
The most historic moment of the night? Responding to Hillary’s attack that she’s thankful her opponent isn’t (yet) running the country, Trump said, “Yeah, because you’d be in jail.”
A pay-per-view MMA round couldn’t have packed this much punch.
But with 27 days till the election, we continue to hear groaning over the poor candidate matchup. Cries for a third-party option have come from friends leaning left and right. Are we the only ones remembering the near-record voter turnout that delivered these two candidates?
Groaning aside, it’s time to RSVP for November 8th. It’s time to vote. Sure, at this election dinner table, you could ignore the options of chicken or fish and write in vegetarian. You’ll feel good about your choice, but you’re still eating chicken or fish.
In 2012, one out of every 20 Christian voters stayed home protesting Mormon presidential candidate, Mitt Romney. Four years later, we have a déjà vu of principled voters throwing the election and their vote away.
Sit home or vote, either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump will be your president.
Let’s try a different approach.
You’re electing a President, not a friend or a pastor.
Mainstream comedian, Lewis Black, explains candidly that if you could see yourself having a beer with one of the candidates, vote for the other person.
Picking a president because he or she is a nice person is absurd—not to mention irresponsible. That would be like stacking your fantasy football team with the nicest guys in the league instead of the best, most strategic players. Ask Tim Tebow how well that worked out.
Trump and Clinton may not perfectly align with your moral convictions, but a strategic vote means electing a Commander-in-Chief who aligns with at least some of them. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was an obese, womanizing drunk well known for his terse remarks and offensive gestures.
However, his personality and stubbornness was perfectly tailored to leading Great Britain to victory in World War II—which President Obama may have forgotten since he removed the Churchill bust from the Oval Office.
The man who told us, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for you country,” was the same man who was recorded saying, “If I don’t have a woman for three days, I get a terrible headache.”
John F. Kennedy is buried in Arlington Cemetery and the nation burns an eternal flame in his honor. Without him, we may have never landed on the moon, nor reached for the stars.
We are imperfect people choosing imperfect leaders to run an imperfect nation.
Make a strategic choice.
We’re not taught to vote smart. We have been conditioned to vote based on feelings and reaction, rather than preemptive action.
As Americans, voting should be the most practical choice we make. You will never see a candidate on the ballot that perfectly represents your principles and priorities.
Each election represents a step towards the end zone. Whether it was Civil Rights reform or women’s suffrage, social change happens over time—as does the downfall of a society.
We make practical decisions everyday. For example, most Apple iPhone users gobbled up the recent iPhone 7 despite widespread reports of declining work conditions for Chinese factory workers.
Users continue to overlook their personal objections because functional technology outweighs their social concern.
Elections are no different. We decide to align with candidates despite knowing the dirty underbelly of the system. We recognize that there are reasons for disagreement and even disgust.
We should never discount character. In fact, it is an essential quality in a president. The ability to make just, moral decisions during our country’s darkest hours determine America’s destiny.
So what do we do in 2016?
The elites have confused self-righteousness with being right.
More than 100 establishment Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, pulled their support for Trump at the revelation of his 2005 statements. Don’t be fooled by their press statements. This isn’t about their principles and it isn’t about the Constitution. To them, there’s one thing that matters more than the Constitution.
Getting reelected.
Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University and son of Jerry Falwell Sr. said, “I just think some of the … establishment folks who reluctantly endorsed [Trump] had this planned all along as a way to slither out of the endorsement, and I think it backfired on them, and I’m glad to see that.”
For the Republican elites, it’s power first, principles second.
Given the choice before us, Hillary is not the most practical, strategic vote for America. She’s a step backwards for our economy, an active threat to our safety and security, and an enemy to our Constitutional rights. Hillary failed to even mention the Constitution in the last debate when discussing Supreme Court nominees.
Trump, however, is the most practical move for the future of America. He’s the only candidate who is concrete on core issues. With priorities like decreasing the debt, appointing Constitution-focused Supreme Court justices, strengthening our southern border, destroying ISIS and ridding the nation of destructive political correctness, Trump lives in reality.
Donald Trump is the Republican nominee because America is tired of the elites. Let’s put aside the feelings of today, and think about our nation two, five, and 10 years down the road.
Trump is the practical vote and a real first down for principles.
Brian Bosché is a former national journalist and #1 bestselling author of the book, 13 Reasons to Give a Damn in 2016. He is the founder of The 60-Day Author—transforming storytellers into bestselling authors.
Gabrielle Bosché is a Millennial expert and #1 bestselling author of three books including, The Millennial Entrepreneur: Side-hustlers, Startups and Disrupters Restarting America. She is the president of The Millennial Solution—providing corporate training that bridges the generation gap.