Why I Didn’t Vote for Joe Biden . . . or Donald Trump
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My absentee ballot went into the mail last week. It looked a lot like 2016’s ballot: conservative selections for various state and local positions, write-ins for President and Vice President of the United States.
I didn’t vote for Biden and Harris, because I believe they would be bad for the country. I didn’t vote for Trump and Pence, because I believe they’re also bad for the country. It’s not clear to me which would be worse, all things considered, but it doesn’t matter. Both major party tickets add up to “Absolutely no way do you get my vote”—not “maybe,” not “it’s a close call,” not “this is a tough decision”—just no. Emphatically, no.
I wrote in a couple of individuals who have demonstrated leadership ability, above-average wisdom, key conservative principles, and a sense of responsibility for their public discourse. They’ve also given me reason to believe that—if they were President and Vice President—they would see themselves as the leaders of the entire nation, not just those who already adore them.
They would attempt to persuade detractors rather than merely rouse their faithful and try to compel everyone else through policy.
So why didn’t I back one of the “electable” candidates? Several reasons.
1. I didn’t have to.
Much of the rhetoric on voting ethics assumes that no alternative exists to backing Trump-Pence or backing Biden-Harris. Actual ink on actual paper on the ballot I submitted proves that assumption is false.
Some object that failure to support Option A is defacto support of Option B. But a bit of reflection reveals that we don’t hold anything else in life to that standard, and rightfully so. Elections are not the exception.
I’m referring to the ethics of forced dilemmas—when someone wrongfully presents us with two bad options and insists we’re responsible for the outcome of whichever we choose. The truth is that the ones who created the dilemma are responsible, and no one else.
I had no hand in nominating Donald Trump. People with very different principles from me did that, and the national social cost of leaving voters with no suitable candidate to vote for is on their heads.
There is a third option. I took it. I don’t regret it.
2. It was not a “wasted” vote.
I realize that some are so focused on voting as a transaction (and on the immediate outcome of that transaction) that they can’t even begin to consider other factors. The fact remains, though, that as human beings, our principles, values and intentions play a huge role in the moral weight of our actions. We’re not machines, and our choices are more than mere math.
So a vote is an expression of beliefs and desires, regardless of how the electoral mathematics turns out. And for Christians, beliefs and desires matter—forever. It’s literally impossible to waste a vote, because votes are counted twice: once here below, as humans count, and once more above using a fundamentally different standard—just like everything else we do.
That said, for those who only see tangible, practical outcomes as real (an odd point of view for Christians!), I have arguments as well. Read on.
3. We won’t get a better result if we keep doing the same thing.
If you read the Federalist Papers and the views of many of the founding leaders of the nation, as well as the Constitution itself, it’s evident that there was a design they had in mind, and that design includes—ultimately depends on—the citizens choosing from among their own best and brightest to serve as the executive of the nation.
How did we get so far from that?
The answer is complex, but voting for candidates who fail the “basic leaderly character” test sure hasn’t helped!
I’m mainly talking to the “hold your nose and vote for Trump because he’s not Hillary and not Biden” crowd. Call me an idealist, but you’re going to develop a permanently sore nose if you keep making that compromise.
Moving past chronic rhinitis, consider what we know about political parties. They hate losing. When they lose, they reflect at least a little on why, and sometimes they learn and behave differently in the future. What the GOP needs is a lesson in the school of hard knocks. There’s no guarantee they’ll get the message—or that enough of them will get it to produce a better candidate in 2024, but if large numbers of GOP voters refuse to back Trump there’s at least a chance.
Rubber-stamping their abysmal candidates will never teach them to do better.
4. Government power doesn’t change minds.
Peter Drucker is credited with saying, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” He wasn’t wrong. While who controls the reins of power is a huge factor in what life is like for us and our families, and a huge factor in shaping the future of the nation, it’s only huge until you compare it to the biggest factor: the reins of persuasion. What matters most is what millions of individual humans actually believe and value and do.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how persuasive is Donald Trump as a voice for conservative ways of thinking?
At a time when virtually everyone recognizes that the nation is “polarized” and not listening to reason, we elected a president who is the quintessential polarizer, who listens to no-one he doesn’t already agree with, and who mischaracterizes opponents’ viewpoints—as well as hard, verifiable facts—almost as often as he exhales.
He is the anti-persuader.
He speaks to the dazzled-and-delusional crowd who view him through near messianic lenses. He speaks to the hold-your-nose and back him because he’s not Hillary and not Biden crowd. To the rest of the nation, the people who are most essential in this culture war, his communications have less than zero persuasive value. He flings verbiage at the center and the left like a middle-schooler throws cow pies and rotten eggs at an enemy’s house.
So what Trump offers to public discourse isn’t merely a zero in the people-won-over column. He pushes undecideds further from the things we believe in and galvanizes the committed left toward increased opposition to much of what we hold dear. (The old adage was never more apt: “With friends like these, who needs …”)
People of the center or left who were once for something (increasing funding for police training and technology, for example) often decide they’re against it as soon as Trump begins vocalizing support.
We may have already lost the culture war. 2016 may have sealed that outcome. Regardless, I’m against the current course of anti-persuasion and voted accordingly.
5. Character is upstream of politics.
The office of President of the United States is one of such high stakes that candidates must be filtered by some character essentials before we even begin to consider their political views and agenda.
- What if war breaks out (from outside the nation or within it)?
- What if a far deadlier pandemic than COVID-19 sweeps the world?
- What if a series of other natural disasters of unusual scale strikes the nation?
- What if mob violence and riots occur in five or ten times the number of cities we saw in 2020?
In these situations, sober-minded, competent, big-picture, adult leadership matters far more than Democrat or Republican. Political philosophy matters in these situations, but philosophy can’t compensate for basic character and competence.
6. There must be trust.
I can’t trust Donald Trump. He’s not unique in that regard. I can’t find it in my heart to trust anyone who openly admires dictators, who has at any time in his adult life publicly bragged about groping women, who fires employees by Twitter and publicly shames people who have loyally stuck their necks out for him over and over again, who has made disrespect of any and all who differ from him the one enduring principle of his public life.
I also can’t trust people who display a fondness for conspiracy theories and for encouraging others to do same. I’m talking about narratives that are clearly contrary to verifiable facts. If you’re out of touch with reality, I might be your friend; I might be your relative; I might like you personally; I might love you as a fellow Christian or a part of my family. But I can’t trust you.
It’s not that I won’t or don’t want to. I can’t.
“Trust” is always a scoped term: Trust for what? Trust to do what? In this case, demagogs, bullies, narcissists, and fantasy-worlders can’t be trusted to make decisions for the good of the organizations they lead. Whether it’s U.S. President or president of the town glee club, they don’t get my vote.
Aaron Blumer 2016 Bio
Aaron Blumer is a Michigan native and graduate of Bob Jones University and Central Baptist Theological Seminary (Plymouth, MN). He and his family live in small-town western Wisconsin, not far from where he pastored for thirteen years. In his full time job, he is content manager for a law-enforcement digital library service. (Views expressed are the author's own and not his employer's, church's, etc.)
- 51 views
I don’t believe we should punish the country because Republicans can’t offer a better candidate than Trump. By refusing to vote for Trump and therefore helping Biden become President, the result will be that the entire country will be punished as “progressive” ideology exerts control. Biden himself will be a figurehead. If you don’t like the candidates political parties offer, then run for political office yourself.
Wally Morris
Huntington, IN
Thanks for the healthy for the most part discussion (the plantation comment was beneath our commitment to treat one another in love)
Observation: I am 67 and have yet to see a sinner refuse Christ because of how I voted. To claim that my vote keeps a lost person from Christ is a false narrative IMO. Romans 1:16 is the confidence of all Gospel preachers. We preach Christ.
I remember growing up in America when folk did not disclose for whom they voted. The voting booths were private for a reason.
We must all answer to God for all of our actions. I am comfortable in answering for mine and do not judge you for how you vote.
I am prepared to live for Christ next week as well as today.
Some of us have not been sufficiently enlightened. In any event, I will vote for life. I won’t vote for someone who thinks there are more than two genders or that abortion is family planning. I also won’t waste my vote on someone who doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in you know where to win. Whoever wins, may it be by a wide margin.
Yes, character matters. Prove to me Trump’s character flaws. Don’t quote gossip columns masquerading as news or political reporting. Facts. What is Trump’s character like? Do you know? Have you met him? Have you talked to him?
It’s amazing to me that anyone asks a question like this.
All you need is his Tweets (see Luke 6:45) though there is much, much more.
His bragging about womanizing is available in recorded form.
His attendance at parties hosted by Jeff Epstein is in photographs.
There are many many interviews.
There are his actions toward Jeff Sessions and others who have been loyal to him. There is audio recording of his quite recent shabby public treatment of Martha McSally, who has also gone to sometimes excess in her loyalty to him.
Examples of one form of disrespect or another toward his fellow human beings — while in the role of U.S. President — are literally legion.
Examples of his narcissism are all over his public statements multiple times per week for the last 4 years (not to mention decade’s worth before that). He’s a self-obsessed braggart if there ever was one.
Examples of his penchant for distorting facts, exaggerating, etc., are just as numerous.
I was going to write a post once on “Evidence of Trump’s Unleaderly Character” but it the subject matter proved too immense for anything less than a 10 part series. I wasn’t going to put myself through that, and it’s too obvious to be worth the effort anyway.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
Aaron’s list of President Trump’s character flaws is a good summary of the President’s character problems. A similar list of Joe Biden’s character flaws would not be hard to assemble either. Which illustrates the problem we face in representative democracy: making a decision from poor choices. For this election, many of us decided to not ignore personal character but to look at other important decision factors, mainly stated policy goals of the candidates. So our choices with the two major political parties are two character-impaired (to put it mildly) candidates, one of whom has stated political and moral policy goals which align more with certain Biblical values. The decision then depends on whether we can overlook character problems in the hope of realizing certain political and moral policy goals, understanding that politics is not the ultimate answer to anyone’s problems but that politics is a necessary and important element of maintaining a stable and decent society. (The irony of decent/good policy goals promoted by people with less than decent character is not lost on me.) Some Christians have decided that the character flaws are too great to allow them to vote for either candidate. Others have decided those character flaws are not yet to the level of not voting for anyone. I suspect that we are getting closer to the time when the candidates problems are so great that even laudable policy goals cannot outweigh a candidates’ character problems. Some have decided that time is now. Others have decided that time is not yet.
Wally Morris
Huntington, IN
Most of that list is called opinion. You act like it is fact independent of perspective.
One thing for the record, I believe Trump disavowed Epstein years ago.
it appears that Aaron prefers four years of Democratic progressive policies, which are an aggressive attack on Biblical morality, religious freedom, common decency, law and order, constitutional government, economic freedom, and much more.
G. N. Barkman
[G. N. Barkman]it appears that Aaron prefers four years of Democratic progressive policies, which are an aggressive attack on Biblical morality, religious freedom, common decency, law and order, constitutional government, economic freedom, and much more.
Would encourage people to read the article and see if this is a fair summary of what I would “prefer.”
There is no good ‘next four years’ on the table. The question is, how to we get better options in 2024?
“Democratic progressive policies, which are an aggressive attack on Biblical morality, religious freedom, common decency, law and order, constitutional government, economic freedom, and much more.”
My central claim is that having an anti-persuader in office ‘championing’ these causes sets them back significantly in the most important front of this culture war: the hearts and minds of Americans. I provided reasons for why I believe this to be the case… and there are more reasons than are listed here.
But I would encourage readers to interact with the reasons. I have not simply stated my opinion. I’ve supported it. So… it isn’t persuasive to caricature it as “Aaron prefers…[something I clearly don’t prefer: see third sentence of the article] ” and simply state a different opinion. I made case. Take a look at the case.
[Mark_Smith]Most of that list is called opinion. You act like it is fact independent of perspective.
One thing for the record, I believe Trump disavowed Epstein years ago.
Seriously, you’re going to claim that all Trump’s tweets are my opinion? That he fired Sessions by way of public humiliation is my opinion and not a documented fact? That he publicly bragged about groping women… you’re saying the recording doesn’t exist? That he was pubicly rude to Martha McSally at a recent rally isn’t on record from multiple eyewitnesses? His admiration of dictators isn’t in writing in the transcripts of multiple interviews? His recent repeated claims that the latest COVID surge is a media ploy didn’t actually happen?
I really have nothing to say to those who are going to dismiss hard facts with a wave of the hand as mere “opinion.”
[WallyMorris]Aaron’s list of President Trump’s character flaws is a good summary of the President’s character problems. A similar list of Joe Biden’s character flaws would not be hard to assemble either. Which illustrates the problem we face in representative democracy: making a decision from poor choices. For this election, many of us decided to not ignore personal character but to look at other important decision factors, mainly stated policy goals of the candidates. So our choices with the two major political parties are two character-impaired (to put it mildly) candidates, one of whom has stated political and moral policy goals which align more with certain Biblical values. The decision then depends on whether we can overlook character problems in the hope of realizing certain political and moral policy goals, understanding that politics is not the ultimate answer to anyone’s problems but that politics is a necessary and important element of maintaining a stable and decent society. (The irony of decent/good policy goals promoted by people with less than decent character is not lost on me.)
It’s not just irony. It’s self-defeating. “Watch us uphold Christian values in conspicuously unChristian ways” is not a winning long-term strategy. How could it possibly be? But even if we could establish that it “works,” it isn’t right. … which we’re supposed to value more than ‘effectiveness,’ are we not?
[Steve Davis] Some of us have not been sufficiently enlightened.
When I encounter this argument—the “this candidate is horrible so we have to defeat him by voting for the other one and nothing else matters, simple as that” argument—I always wonder what they think is going to happen culturally long-term. It’s especially odd to see this argument come from people who are usually very culturally aware.
So how do they see the cultural impact of 4 more years of Trump?
- Culture (beliefs and values/hearts and minds and the free actions that flow from them) doesn’t matter as long as we can pass good laws?
- Trump is having no significant negative effect on the American culture?
- The culture declines faster with the left in the Presidency than it does with an anti-persuader in the Presidency?
I’d be interested in hearing how centrists can be won over to conservative/Christian/traditional ways of thinking under a Trump presidency.
I’d also be interested in hearing how conservative principles win long-term through laws and courts over a public that believes the opposite on nearly every point. How’s that going to work?
So many are thinking only in coercive terms and not at all in persuasive terms. … and many of them are normally very smart people. I wish they would explain to me how this strategy (a) can possibly work or (b) how it can possibly be right, even if it could “work.”
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
The rate of decline in public morality under the most recent Democratic administration was astounding. The declared intentions of many Democrats is even more frightening. I don’t think the nation can rebound from four more years of Democratic leadership. Trump’s achievements, particularly in appointing judges who honor the Constitution, is a serious game changer, as the Left fully understands. That is why they are making plans to undo these gains. Four more years of Trump would preserve these gains, expand them, and make reversing them much more difficult. If Biden wins, I’m afraid any chance of retaining the basics of the US Constitution will be forever lost. The stakes are too high to concede the election to Biden and hope for better in 2024. By the time the Democrats have packed the Supreme Court, created additional Federal Courts, admitted DC and Puerto Rico as solidly Democratic States, 2024 won’t even matter. Our last opportunity to undo the Democrat’s damage is now. Only the election of Donald Trump can defeat these plans. That’s why I cannot understand anyone intentionally yielding the election to Biden. If he wins, I’m afraid America, as we have known it, will be gone forever.
Why do I say that Aaron “prefers” the Democrat’s progressive agenda? Because his strategy, if followed by enough evangelical Christians, will concede the election to Biden by default. That is the inevitable and practical result of refusing to support Trump. Only the election of Trump can defeat the election of Biden. I’m afraid many Christians are going to watch the destruction of America over the next four years in disbelief, especially when they realize that they are partially to blame.
G. N. Barkman
Aaron: There is no good ‘next four years’ on the table.
This is the point you have misunderstood all through this.
There is no perfect ‘next four years’ on the table. But there is a relatively good option.
“Did what was right . . ” - sounds like policies. Not to say character is irrelevant, but do/did/done is an expression of action.
[Aaron Blumer]Steve Davis wrote:
Some of us have not been sufficiently enlightened.When I encounter this argument—the “this candidate is horrible so we have to defeat him by voting for the other one and nothing else matters, simple as that” argument—I always wonder what they think is going to happen culturally long-term. It’s especially odd to see this argument come from people who are usually very culturally aware.
So how do they see the cultural impact of 4 more years of Trump?
- Culture (beliefs and values/hearts and minds and the free actions that flow from them) doesn’t matter as long as we can pass good laws?
- Trump is having no significant negative effect on the American culture?
- The culture declines faster with the left in the Presidency than it does with an anti-persuader in the Presidency?
The context that I was not “sufficiently enlightened” was the description of (some of ) Trump’s supporters as dazzled and delusional. I do not think I am either. I also think my cultural awareness contributes to my perspective that I will not be complicit in supporting perhaps the most left-wing ticket in history, either with my vote or a wasted vote, with the possibility that Biden does not finish his term and Harris becomes president. Biden was in Philly and made it clear he will reverse much of the good policy Trump has advanced and remove protection for so-called religious discrimination for those who do not support the LGBTQ+ agenda, same-sex marriage, abortion, transgenderism, etc. I will not be complicit in advancing this evil.
We can only guess at the cultural impact of 4 more years of Trump. I don’t know what will happen culturally long-term if Trump or Biden wins. Neither does anyone else. So why speculate? The influence of Trump’s personal character flaws pales in comparison to the harm done to our society in the advancement of an evil agenda. I am less concerned about Trump’s bad personal influence on culture that Biden’s official evil policy influence on our nation. Are people more arrogant, more narcissistic, greater liars, more intemperate in speech, etc. than 4 years ago? If they are we cannot blame Trump. Trump wears his depravity on his sleeve at times yet has attempted to accomplish what he promised in 2016. One instance, seen from my work as addiction therapist in prisons and with ex-felons- criminal justice reform. Trump did more in his term than Obama and Biden in 8 years. So yes, I want more of that. Let us not pretend that depravity is not pervasive and penetrating with or without Trump. If Biden wins, we might have Trump’s judicial appointees to thank for slowing the official advancement of evil. It is all going to collapse in the end. As a nation we deserve the judgment of God. In his mercy he withholds wrath. There is no hope for our nation apart from the gospel of Jesus Christ. But out of love for my neighbor, the unborn, and my grandchildren I will do what I can to slow the spread of gangrene.
[Dan Miller]Aaron: There is no good ‘next four years’ on the table.
This is the point you have misunderstood all through this.
There is no perfect ‘next four years’ on the table. But there is a relatively good option.
Yes there is always a “relatively good,” because bad things are seldom precisely equal. In this case, it’s not at all obvious that the one ‘good’ so many think is “better” would actually be better. … at any rate, as I’ve already explained and supported, there are more than two options and the third is far “better” than either of the other two—for specific reasons I’ve outlined.
Let me boil it down another way: If Biden win’s, conservatism and traditional Christian values lose on the policy front. If Trump wins, they lose—at an accelerating rate—on the culture front. Is policy more powerful than culture? I have argued it is less powerful and that Trump is a clear negative on the cultural front. Nobody’s given me any reason to reconsider that.
It’s true, to Greg’s point, that the culture declined morally during previous Democratic administrations. But let’s observe also, please, that it has been declining pretty steadily since at least the 1960s. Decline is likely regardless, for deeper reasons than Presidents, but none of this changes the fact that in Trump we have an “evangelical morality spokesman” who wins over nobody, turns off many of the ambivalent, and galvanizes the far left. He is making it far worse than it would otherwise be on the cultural front—which we all have good reasons to view as the most important front.
To Steve’s point…
I also think my cultural awareness contributes to my perspective that I will not be complicit in supporting perhaps the most left-wing ticket in history, either with my vote or a wasted vote, with the possibility that Biden does not finish his term and Harris becomes president.
I have argued that there is no such thing as a wasted vote and there can’t possibly be.
- Am I incorrect that how God weighs a vote matters?
- Am I incorrect that He does indeed weigh all of our actions, voting included?
- Am I incorrect that His evaluation matters more than the Electoral College’s?
Secondly, Steve goes on to suggest we don’t know what another 4 yrs of Trump will do. I think it’s quite obvious what it will do, in general. It will continue to plague the nation daily with ever-deteriorating public discourse, increased personal fights (because, for Trump, it’s always personal) rather than rational policy debates, and more and more people turned against the beliefs and values we’d all like to see gain some ground.
But to attempt, once again, to focus on the arguments…
- am I incorrect that culture is more powerful than policy? Why or why not?
- am I incorrect that Trump is good at rousing his base but doesn’t even seriously attempt to persuade any who aren’t part of that base? Why or why not?
I could go on, but it’s all the article. There are reasons there. There’s little value in repeatedly saying “I disagree on the conclusion,” but not getting into the whys and wherefores.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
[Aaron Blumer]Would encourage people to read the article and see if this is a fair summary of what I would “prefer.”
It is a very fair summary of what WILL result from your advice and example if enough people follow it. You may not “prefer” it, but it is the completely foreseeable and unavoidable result of your position if your position succeeds. And therefore it is not out of line to call you to account for it.
Thank you Steve Davis for your clear and reasoned thinking!!!!!! Dave Doran just wrote a piece on his facebook alerting us to the house bill on equality pushed by the entire demoncratic party. Dave has always been very careful in the political arena, yet he felt this bill to be important enough to write about. Biden, Harris, Pelosi, AOC, the Squad, Schumer and nearly the entire dem party will be in favor of this travesty. Trump and the republicans for the most part will oppose it. Biden himself personally endorsed the transgender surgery and medications for an 8 year old boy on ABC, national television. Child abuse of the worst order, but what else do you expect from someone who approves of murdering children up the 9th month and beyond if they happen to survive and forcing all tax payers to pay for it. Both Biden and Trump have serious character issues. With Biden/Harris, however, you get bad character and bad policy.
Pastor Mike Harding
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