Evert’s Electables General Election November 8, 2016 PLEASE NOTE— For candidates already in an office, I have been able to check voting records. My comments reflect their voting records over the course of their tenure. For those who have never run for office before, and who claim a position, I will state their claim, but understand I have nothing by which to verify that claim. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. A photo ID is required to vote in South Carolina. You must have a legal reason to request a paper ballot; distrust of computers is not a legal reason, nor is preference for a paper trail a legal reason. If you ask for, receive, and vote on a paper ballot, most likely your ballot will be disqualified as not a legally cast vote. Exceptions are absentee and Failsafe Ballots PRESIDENT Trump/Pence Republican New York billionaire and businessman. Most of his businesses have been in real estate and casinos. Running as a populist, conservative, pro-American. He is running as an ―outsider‖ and is a complete outsider to politics and as such has completely befuddled the political pundits. They don’t know what to do with him. He’s running as a pro-life candidate, although it’s clear from his answers in the debates that he doesn’t understand the issue. Trump has come out as very pro-police, pro-gun rights, and a law-and-order candidate. He’s also come out against corruption and has been swinging at the media. One of his big issues is immigration—building a wall and closing the borders, especially from Middle East countries where there’s a potential security issue with lack of proper vetting. Campaigning as a pro-2nd Amendment (right to bear arms) and is endorsed by the NRA. Has produced a conservative list of potential nominees for the Supreme Court. The Democrats and the mainstream media have thrown everything at him, from the kitchen sink to the bathroom sink. Some of it may be true and some of it may not be; at this point it’s hard to tell. I do know that he’s not a very moral man. For those of you who have read my Electables before, you know that I didn’t pick him in the Primary, mainly because I don’t believe that he’s 1) a Republican or 2) a conservative. It’s entirely possible that he’s changed over the years, although his donations record is all over the place. I’m not sure I trust that he would do what he’s said he’s going to do. But in the General Elections, I usually support the most conservative nominee who has a chance of winning—and he’s campaigned as at least a nominal conservative—and there are conservatives that are supporting his campaign. Mike Pence, his VP running mate, is a true conservative. He is the conservative governor of Indiana. I would be much more comfortable if Pence were the nominee. There are people I know that are voting for Trump because of Pence and that is a reasonable choice. Hilary Clinton/Tim Kaine Democrat She is the long-time political establishment candidate on the Democrat side. She is a lawyer, former First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State. Tim Kaine is a former governor of and current senator from Virginia. On issues, Hilary Clinton is very liberal. Her election would be a continuation of the Barak Obama’s administration. She has stated that the Supreme Court opening should be filled with the nominee that President Obama has put forward. A long record of anti-gun votes and she’s campaigning for more gun control laws. She’s also stated that with the Supreme Court tipping in the balance, now is a good time to pick a candidate who will reinterpret the 2nd Amendment away from individual’s rights. She even intimated that the Australian model might be good to follow (the Australian model was outlawing and confiscation of guns). She has made statements in favor of Black Lives Matter and has sided against police, just as the Obama administration has done. In the last debate, she made it very clear that her stance on abortion is that abortion should be legal until the point of birth. Her position on abortion is probably the most extremely articulated one the modern Democrat Party has known. I believe Barak Obama holds the same view, but just didn’t articulate it. She’s received the Margaret Sanger Award from Planned Parenthood. She’s also in favor of federal funds paying for abortions. She’s in favor of the continued legalization of gay marriage and wants the Supreme Court to define gender in a manner in which transgender persons can use the bathrooms based on their choice rather than original biology. During her time as Secretary of State, she had a private server for email instead of the state-issued and state-secured server. It has been speculated that the intent was to keep her communication hidden from the public eye; but while she was Secretary of State, she and Bill orchestrated a massive pay-to-play program where people made donations to the Clinton Foundation in order to get either contracts of political favors from the Secretary of State. One of the accusations is that Russian firms made donations to the foundation and she signed off on allowing the Russians to buy uranium mines accounting for at least a third of the U.S.’s production. In my opinion, she’s probably the most corrupt person we’ve had run for President in our lifetime. Gary Johnson/William Weld Libertarian ticket Gary Johnson is the former governor of New Mexico. William Weld is a former governor and senator from Massachusetts. Weld is quite liberal fiscally as well as socially. Johnson was very conservative fiscally while governor; he has strong 2nd Amendment stances. When he was governor, he ran and was elected as a pro-life candidate. This year, after he won the nomination as the Libertarian candidate, he is running openly as pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-legalization of drugs. He was the CEO of a marijuana-legalization company. I saw an interview where he was asked about that history—he stated that Yes, he had used drugs but had stopped when he made the decision to run for President because the presidency means you’re on the job 24/7. He’s had a couple of notorious interviews where he didn’t know where Aleppo, Syria was and did not know who the leader of North Korea was. Personally, I think the drugs have caused an issue for him mentally. He has also stated that he doesn’t care about religious issues—churches will just have to ―deal with‖ homosexual issues. The Libertarian Party missed a huge opportunity. The most he got was 7% in the polls; currently he’s between 3 and 5%. Jill Stein Green Party Basically an environmental radical, as well as a socialist. I don’t know that she’s a Marxist, but she’s definitely a socialist. Very much in favor of the national $15/hr minimum wage. Tax the rich. Free college education. Free health care. Very liberal on the social issues. Currently polling at 3%. Darrell Castle Constitution Party He’s probably the most conservative person running but he has absolutely no chance of winning. I believe he’s close to 40 ballots—meaning he isn’t even on the ballot for all the states. Evan McMullin Independent He’s on the ballot in 13 states. Mormon from Utah and has never run for office before. Former CIA operative. Running because he’s a ―Never Trump‖-er. His primary objective is to send the presidential election to the House of Representatives. If that cannot be attained, then he just wants to defeat Trump—he doesn’t care if Hilary wins. Evert: One of the criticisms I have for the minor party candidates is that they use only the Conventional model to select their presidential choice, yet they want open primaries for the major parties. This has been a very difficult year for me to be decisive about whom I want to vote for. I’m probably more voting ―against Hilary‖ than for anyone else. I don’t fully trust Trump, I don’t trust Hillary Clinton at all. I believe he is a slightly more conservative version of Bill Clinton. Understand the stakes that are on the table—the Supreme Court and, probably more importantly, how the Justices and the federal government either interpret or re-interpret (rewrite several of our core values and amendments). The Supreme Court has already re-interpreted marriage; they’re telling us they’re going to re-interpret gender. If the Democrats win, most of the 1st Amendment would be re-interpreted beyond recognition. The left hates freedom of speech. They absolutely despise freedom of religion and would re-interpret it to be freedom of worship. They would basically interpret the 2nd Amendment away. The 10th Amendment would be gone (states’ rights) and most likely the 4th Amendment (protection from searches & seizures). Further, the current president and Hilary are pushing to change America by bringing in massive numbers of immigrants. In one of Hilary’s secret speeches that was released by WikiLeaks, it was revealed that she advocated open borders and giving the vote to non-citizens regardless of legal status. The Left in this country does not want to have to convince the people that the Left is correct.