What would eventually lead me to choose McMullin over the other candidates started during the primaries. My choice during the primaries was John Kasich. I knew his chances were low but I still liked him best, and I was happy to support Ted Cruz when Kasich dropped out. But when Ted Cruz dropped out I felt unsure on what to think. Honestly, I simply could not believe that Donald Trump was the Republican nominee.
I went back and forth: Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump? I thought, well Hilary has experience. I might disagree on some fundamental things, but at least she knows what she is doing. Then when I heard Mike Pence speak at the RNC, I thought, Oh I can vote for Pence by voting for Trump. Pence is an actual conservative politician. Maybe with him and other real Republicans guiding Trump, a Trump presidency could be okay. But like with Hilary, there are fundamental issues that I can't stand behind.
I know a lot of people think that Trump haters don't want to vote for him because he's rude, obnoxious, and quite frankly, a complete lunatic. Yeah, he is all of those things, but so are practically every other politician out there - they are just better at hiding it. I'm not voting for Trump because I disagree with his immigration reform plan, his tax reform plan, and some of his ideas on religious freedom. I disagree with his actual policies, it's not just me disliking the person the media has painted.
I also cannot stand behind Hilary with her stance on abortion (a.k.a. "reproductive rights"). Nor her idea that psychologists and psychiatrists shouldn't be allowed to help transgenders learn to love, accept and stay comfortable with the person and body they were born with (I promise I didn't make that up, it's on her campaign website). Obviously if someone chooses to take hormones and have surgeries, that's their choice. but not even give them and their doctors the option to choose? That doctors can only offer hormones and surgeries? That's going too far. But this topic is for another conversation. I also don't agree with their tax plan.
As you can see. I actually researched both Hilary Clinton's and Donald Trump's campaigns. My decision has nothing to do with the media hype, and everything to do with their policies that I simply cannot support.
I decided to research the 3rd party candidates, and still found disappointment. Jill Stein and Gary Johnson are too liberal for my taste, and Darrel Castle is simply too weak, and his financial ideas are confusing and scary. At this point I planned on writing in Mitt Romney's name. Then Evan McMullin made the news. I decided to look into him, but I wasn't expecting anything. When I finished reading his campaign website evanmcmullin.com I knew I was voting for him. (I also follow his facebook page.)
Evan's stance on immigration and abortion match mine exactly. He agrees the border needs to be secured, but he also knows deporting 11 million people is ridiculous. He would like to see Roe v. Wade overturned, but he also understands that the whether abortion is legal or not is one of many answers to this problem. In one of his earlier interviews he said most liberals and conservatives both want to see abortion numbers go down, we are simply head locked in the legal aspect of it. But if we asked and answered the question together, "How can we make abortion numbers go down?" and worked together on that, we would be more productive.
While he believes that marriage is between one man and one woman, Evan will not fight the Supreme Court on the recent decision about same-sex marriage. He is going to respect their decision. I know that's a hard pill for many conservatives to swallow, but I agree with him. I think it's a waste of time and money - precious money - to fight it. That doesn't mean that us individual conservatives stop teaching our children what is right, but I think the legal fight is over for now.
He wants to lower and simplify taxes - though I haven't heard if he has a plan with actual numbers yet. His idea of liberty and freedom fits all races, religions, and classes. You see, when Republicans talk about freedom, they mean freedom for Christians. When Democrats talk about equality, they mean equality for the LGBT groups. Evan wants equality for all, true equality. In his address at the Provo Library he said, "With liberty for all, we will have different skin colors. With liberty for all, we will have different religions."
A lot of people think that he is a spoiler, that he is handing the election to Hilary. But he's not doing this to be self-serving. He's not being malicious. In a recent interview as well as at the Provo Library event he said that he approached big name conservatives first. He wanted to create a campaign to back someone with name recognition. All of them declined. At this point his team asked him if he would step up, and he agreed. And now here we are.
I know it will take a HUGE miracle for him to win. I'm not so naive to think this will be an easy journey. But his campaign is more than just a bid for the White House. His campaign is creating a new conservative movement, a movement that could very well create a new conservative party. The Republican party is a sinking ship, and if Hilary Clinton wins - which she has a very good chance of doing so - I believe the Republican party will crumble. Conservatives who have already abandoned ship can create a new and better conservative party to rise in its place.
I also have to vote for who and what I believe in. I don't believe in Donald Trump or Hilary Clinton, and I don't believe in the parties they represent. I don't believe in being a strategy voter. I believe in voting my conscious, and my conscious says Evan McMullin.