Here Are Some Facts, Then My Opinions

By Susan Bewley, As published in The Union

Here are some facts regarding the upcoming Presidential election: Donald Trump is going to be the Republican Party’s nominee, and Joe Biden is going to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for President of the United States. There will be other candidates listed on ballots for President, but none of these people has any chance of winning a majority of the Electoral College votes.

Here are the three possible outcomes of the Electoral College vote count:

--Donald Trump wins at least 270 Electoral College votes and is declared President-Elect.

--Joe Biden wins at least 270 Electoral College votes and is declared President-Elect.

--Neither Trump nor Biden wins at least 270 electoral votes, because the other minor candidates win enough votes to stop both of them from attaining 270 electoral votes.

According to the U.S. Constitution, if no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes, the U.S. House of Representatives elects the President from the three candidates who received the most electoral votes. Each State delegation is allowed one vote.

In my opinion, if you decide to protest by voting for one of the minor candidates, you are effectively voting for Donald Trump. Why? Currently the Republican Party is the majority party in the U. S. House of Representatives, and most of the State Legislatures are controlled by the Republican Party. If the decision on the Presidency goes to the House of Representatives, the Republican Party would select most of the State delegates and thus the Presidency for you: Donald Trump.

Many of you are angry at Joe Biden regarding the Hamas-Israeli War and the financial aid that is being sent to Israel. Myself, I go back and forth. Hamas started the war by killing, raping and kidnapping Israelis on October 7, but Israel has killed 35,000 civilians (mostly women and children) in response. I say “Israel” but it is really Benjamin Netanyahu who has orchestrated this destruction of homes, hospitals and schools and the starvation of Palestinians. If you think Trump is going to withhold financial support from Israel, think again. Trump is anti-Muslim and has already stated he would reinstitute his Muslim ban. Biden has called out Netanyahu and pushed for a 2-State solution as well as built a floating pier on the Gaza shore to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people for distribution by the United Nations.

In addition to being in favor of codifying Roe v. Wade, Joe Biden has taken a multitude of positive actions from successfully getting Covid vaccinations into arms for free to the biggest expenditures in history dealing with climate change to college loan forgiveness to job creation through the infrastructure bill and chips act to controlling the price of prescription drugs to strengthening NATO. Contrast that with Trump’s accomplishments: tax cuts for corporations and the ultra-wealthy, and creating one of the most conservative Supreme Courts in history which overturned Roe v. Wade.

There has never been and never will be a perfect President. But I’m voting for democracy and the rule of law. I’m voting for Joe Biden, a man of good will.