Primaries Matter So VOTE!

By J. R. Holmsted

Super Tuesday is coming. Far too quickly and with more dire stakes than I ever imagined. I’ve been thinking on this for a while. Maybe I should have written this sooner, maybe none of it matters anyway, but let me just get this off my chest.

Here’s the deal. I get going with the lesser evil. I’ve voted that way a few times. But we are not there yet. These are primaries. Don’t think about how you should vote because of popularity that is the “lesser evil” compared to Hillary Clinton.

Vote for your ideal candidate. Nobody has to know but you. Go with your gut, your heart, your head, but don’t go with the polls. Don’t go with what your mom wants or even your best Tweeps tell you. Vote for YOU.

But most importantly VOTE! Primaries matter now more than ever.

Beyond that I levy a challenge.

I CHALLENGE you to talk about who you’re voting for. What you believe. What conservatism stands for in your eyes. Explain why. Get your apathetic friends involved. Most likely they do care, they just don’t think it matters or don’t want to be flamed for what they think. This crap line of thinking will give us Trump. Which inevitably gives us Hillary. (Even if it does give us Trump, then buckle up for another 8-16 years of progressive rule, because Congress WILL turn over.)

Don’t be chicken. I understand not wanting to take a FB stand, that’s not what I mean. Hell, I don’t. FB is reserved for family and friend connections and photo sharing for me. You can more effectively engage personally. People listen when you articulate your position while looking them in the eye instead of from behind a keyboard.

“Dude! Political discussions are not polite! I was always taught not to discuss them!”

Don’t give me that nonsense. You don’t have to be abrasive. You don’t have to be a bully. You can inquire positions and engage in civil discourse. Our forefathers did this all the time. More often than not, they discussed politics around beers at a tavern until the wee hours of the morning. Surely many of you can relate. (Don’t pretend you don’t go to the bar or have drinks at home with friends on the reg.) They felt it was imperative. Had they adhered to “politeness” we would not have this democratic republic or worse, our mind-blowingly brilliant Constitution.

Encourage people to get involved. Whether you agree with them or not. Engage, engage, engage, engage, engage!!!

Your convictions will be better for it. Your conscience will be better for it.

America will be better for it.

Come hell or high water, you will have done all you could.

h/t @AviWoolf, @cdpayne, @lifebythecreek for entertaining my thoughts and enriching my mind.