Hold Your Nose or Hold Your Tongue

We have a "presumptive nominee." I don't need to repeat what a hard-fought battle it was—and battle IS the right word considering that their strategies relied almost exclusively on attacking each other—nor do I have to express surprise. the numbers were not in Hillary's favor, and the reasons why can be debated evermore, but not here. She's out, he's in, and just as we did when Bush stole the first election, it's time to Move On.

What I will say is that my pragmatic view of the results is at odds with many ardent Hillary supporters, mostly women, who have said publicly that they would rather vote for John McCain than Barack Obama, or that they will just stay home on election day. Words can barely express how angry this makes me, so instead I'll just lay out the positions side-by-side.

Let's take the second one first since it's the "easiest." (See the next post for #2) To those voters who would stay home out of pique I say , "How DARE you?" You cannot possibly have been supporting Hillary for the right reasons if you would abdicate your Constitutional right to make your voice heard when it counts most.

• What's that? You say one voice doesn't make a difference, especially with out outdated electoral college rigamarole? Wrong-o. If the 2000 election had been decided fairly, Al Gore would have won—on the basis of the popular vote. That means YOU.
  
  
• Okay, so your conscience won't allow you to vote for someone with whom you have ideological differences. Even assuming the next-to-impossible odds that you have ever agreed with everything—that is, 100%—a candidate says and does, how will your conscience feel if John McCain wins because all the rational people stayed home? Make no mistake: John McCain is Bush III—and potentially much, much worse.
  
  
• If you don't vote, you have no right to bitch. So what would you rather do—hold your nose for thirty seconds and vote (for Obama), or hold your tongue for four years