Popularity Contest

This November, I will not be voting for Prom King or Queen. I will not be voting in the "Who Is My Best Friend" contest. I will not be voting for a beer buddy or a shoulder to cry on. I will be voting for the President of the United States.

That seems to escape some people. They think they need to like the person they vote for. They treat it like a popularity contest, where the person who is the nicest or the prettiest or the funniest should win. And let's face it, it is a popularity contest. No question about that. We're not living in a period where the electorate is picking any other way.

I don't like Hillary Clinton. I don't know her. I don't like Donald Trump either. Don't know him. And what I do know about both of them suggests that I wouldn't really want to hang out at my place with either of them and chill. They're not my type.

But even if my best friend or my wife or my parents, all of whom I love and enjoy spending time with, were running for president, I'd probably vote for the politician. There are a number of reasons for that, not least of which is that the presidency is a thankless job which horribly ages people and which requires moral compromises which I wouldn't wish on those I love. But a big reason is that the president is not your buddy.

The president is not supposed to be someone to have a beer with.  At the end of the day, you should vote for the candidate who will serve the country best

There are a lot of people who aren't going to vote for Hillary Clinton because they don't like her. That's not a good reason. There are plenty who aren't going to v5ote for Donald Trump because they don't like him. Not a good reason.

I'm not voting for Donald Trump. I think he's an odious pissant who would step over his own mother to make a dime, and I would rather claw my own eyes out than spend a day in the same room with him. But that's not why I'm not voting for him. I'm not voting for him because I disagree with pretty much every policy choice he's likely to make.

I think I might be able to spend the day with Hillary Clinton. Not sure. I know less about her personally, and unlike Trump she's been a politician long enough that her personal life is pretty much totally manufactured anyway, at least as far as I would be able to determine. But part of the reason I don't know much about her personal life is that I don't care. Will she make a better president than Donald Trump? Definitely. Is she likeable? Couldn't care less.

That said, when I criticize Hillary Clinton, because I'm a man, people automatically assume it's because I don't like her. And I don't. But we've gone so far through the looking glass that it's impossible to criticise politicians without it seeming like an ad hominim attack.

I disagree with Hillary Clinton on substantive matters of policy. She's entirely too hawkish for my tastes. But when compared to Donald Trump, she's preferable. Not here to debate whether it's a bad thing to have to choose the lesser of two evils. I don't think she's evil. I just disagree with some of her positions.

But do I like her? Doesn't matter. Is she a woman? Yep. Unless that affects her policies, I don't give a shit. Does she lie? She's a politician. They all lie. We're human. We all lie. Does it affect her policies? Then I care.

I'm not going to tell you how to vote. All this stuff about voting for Hillary Clinton is just disclosure. Vote for Mickey Mouse for all I care. I won't stop you.

But please, vote for the person whose views you support. Don't vote for someone because you think they'd be a good buddy. They aren't your buddy. They're the fucking President.

And if you vote for Mickey Mouse, you're a dumb shit.