PSA: Come Hell or High Water, Get to the Polls Tomorrow and Vote for Hillary

While I don't think I tone down my politics here by any means, I don't talk explicitly about them very often. I'm here to talk about how to put together a 1930s inspired outfit from thrift store finds, not economic and social policy, although that sort of thing does come up occasionally in my Links to Love posts. 

But I'm going to get real explicit right now - if you are an American, go to the polls tomorrow and vote for anyone other than Trump. If you don't think you can vote for Hillary, ok; vote for Jill Stein or Evan McMullin or write in your grandmother's name, but that orange ball of bad hair and worse intentions cannot become president of the United States.

There is so, so much at stake here. There are seismic global changes that need to be addressed - global warming, the situation in Syria and Iraq, Russia's increasingly aggressive stance. There are also a lot of domestic issues in America that need solutions, like income and racial inequality (which are inextricably linked), our crumbling infrastructure, congressional gridlock.

There is a hard road ahead, and Donald Trump is categorically unfit to lead us through it. Trump's great gift as a presidential candidate is to appeal to a segment of the population that feels under-served by the current political system. Not only is he the kind of person that they can look up to - wealthy, famous, brash, "un-PC" (as they would probably put it) - he says the things that they want to hear about bringing back jobs and turning back the clock to a time when things were better.

And I'm going to break from the current liberal feminist line here for a moment to say that they do have a point, to a certain extent. There's this stereotype that they all racist hicks who hate anyone who doesn't look like them and want to turn the clock back to 1950, and I don't think that's fair or accurate. Rural poverty is a real and serious issue, and one that doesn't have an easy solution. It's also not one that you hear a lot about, and when you do it's just as likely to be a punchline on SNL as think piece on Slate. They too have valid concerns that deserve to be addressed. 

But, while Trump might say the things that they want to hear, he doesn't have anything even remotely resembling solutions to those problems. You can go on Hillary Clinton's website right now to see her detailed plans for addressing, among many other things, substance abuse issues, making college debt free, addressing our aging infrastructure, supporting veterans, and, yes, addressing rural poverty. Trump's website has bullet points that say that he's going to "fix the economy," but include virtually no detail about how he plans to do any of it.

And that, to me, is the most damning thing about Trump as a presidential candidate. The only thing that he cares about is his own ego. He is not in this because he wants to serve the American people, he's in it because he wants to stroke his own ego, and he will say anything, pander to anyone, to get that boost. 

I know that there are a lot of people out there who don't like Hillary. Personally, I think a lot of the criticisms of her are unfair. She's not "likeable"? How likeable do you think you'd be after 30 years in the public eye, being viciously critiqued for literally everything you do or don't do? But leaving questions of fairness aside, you can't deny that she's competent, intelligent, and far more prepared to lead the country than Trump is. There is really no comparison between the two.

In recent days, as the polls have tightened, I've found myself increasingly worried about the outcome of this election. I keep thinking about the Brexit vote, and how it took everyone by surprise - including a lot of people who actually voted for it. I'm legitimately scared to think of what kind of a message we are sending to, among others, people of color, trans and queer folk, people with disabilities, women, poor people, not to mention the rest of the world that has to be wondering, right now, if we're all a bunch of lunatics. 

I hope, tomorrow, that we prove that we are rational, thoughtful people, capable of making what is obvious the right decision. So tomorrow, do me, you, and the rest of the world a favor - vote.