If I vote for Donald Trump, I will not cast that vote in favor of white supremacy, violence, or fascism, all of which I vehemently oppose. Violence may have a place in law enforcement as well as in personal or national self-defense, but its proactive use is illegitimate in rallies, marches, demonstrations, or in any domestic political context. And I imagine that if you vote for Joe Biden, you won’t necessarily be voting for Antifa or BLM rioters in the streets or for socialism. You'll vote for Biden for any one of a number of reasons that I can’t know without asking.
People who plan to vote against Trump oppose him for all sorts of reasons. Those reasons may have nothing whatsoever to do with why other people plan to vote for Trump. If you oppose Trump because you think he is a fascist, it does not follow that someone who votes for Trump also thinks he is a fascist and is voting for him BECAUSE he is a fascist. That’s faulty reasoning. Making that assumption is also stupid, because it helps turn friends, colleagues, neighbors, and fellow citizens who may hold a different view of Trump and Biden, or even a different set of national priorities, into political and even personal enemies.
If you call me a fascist to my face, I just might punch you in the nose! (That is highly unlikely, however, given that in the entirety of my nearly half a decade on the planet, I have never punched anyone in the nose.) If you call me a fascist online, I may mute you, for being insulting or for being an idiot or both. But I promise you I won’t start thinking of myself as a fascist just because someone accuses me of being one.
In my life, I’ve personally known far more liberals than conservatives. Many of those liberals are brilliant. Most are not stupid at all. And of the conservatives I’ve known, I don’t recall even one whom I would call evil. Yet I don’t doubt, based on what I read online, hear on radio, and see on TV, that many on the Right think many on the Left are brainwashed or mentally deficient, while many on the Left think many on the Right are brain-dead or morally deficient.
It’s quite commonplace nowadays to assume the worst motives and the least intelligence among those we disagree with. After all, if they had any brains or integrity, wouldn’t they agree with us? No, not necessarily. Taking your most damning assessments of Trump or Biden and then slapping those assessments onto anyone who will vote for the nominee you loathe is fundamentally misguided, if not also dishonest.
We don’t inherently know why any particular person chooses a candidate. And no polling data will provide that information. If you really want to know why a specific someone is voting for Trump or for Biden, ask him; ask her. And then listen to the answer. You might not like the answer. It might not fit with what you “know” to be true of “them.” But then again, maybe we’ve got “them” wrong.
So please don’t tell me why I’m REALLY voting for Trump, and I won’t tell you why you’re REALLY voting for Biden. Ask me if you want to know, and I’ll do the same with you. In that way we both might learn something about who our fellow Americans are and what they care about. And it just might prevent you from getting punched in the nose!
