“To vote for Trump?”

Ramesh Ponnuru has published a thoughtful piece on the options facing conservatives in this disheartening election year:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/436103/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-conservatives-grim-choice

I’ve signed the #NeverTrump pledge, and there is virtually nothing that the presumptive Republican nominee could possibly do that would make me break it.  (Nor does he seem inclined to try.)  But I understand those who intend to hold their noses and vote for him:  The thought of Hillary Clinton as president is, truly, depressing.

I also, though, understand those conservatives who’ve decided to hold their noses and vote for the return of Clinton Inc.  Mr. Trump is, frankly, both disgusting and terrifying.

I’m one of those who will do neither.

One of the many things that I dislike about Trumpism is its tendency to encourage rancor and personal hostility in our political process.  Mr. Trump’s encouragement to violent thugs at his rallies; his personal insults directed at rivals and, even, at those who’ve failed to show enough enthusiasm for his candidacy or who’ve dared to ask him questions that he doesn’t like; his crassness, bombast, and vulgarity; his demonstrated urge to silence opposition; his ignorance and abysmal lack of substance; his demagogic appeals to rank prejudice — our political discourse didn’t need more of such things, and it’s been very discouraging to watch them take him to the Republican presidential nomination.  But I’ve especially hated to see some of this rancor enter in even among Latter-day Saints (who, it must be said to their considerable credit, been exceptionally resistant to Trumpism).

Confronted with the horrific presidential choices laid before us — a cynically corrupt, liberal, and possibly imploding Hillary Clinton and the appalling and thoughtless authoritarian Donald Trump — we should at least resist the temptation to bring Trumpist rancor into our own families, neighborhoods, wards, and, yes, online comments.