It is said that elections have consequences.

Never in a generation, has this been truer than in this election of 2016.  Given that, the act of voting for a third party to protest “the system,” or as an expression of anger over Bernie Sanders’ loss, or general frustration with the process or with lack of progress in our politics, is an extremely consequential act[1].  Because that vote will have the effect of helping to hand the Presidency to Donald Trump.  That protest vote will have very real consequences.

But those consequences are not born equally by all.  The levers of government impact those who are at the margins of society the most.  If you are among the more fortunate, living in relative comfort, enjoying some degree of power (or access to it), perhaps taking all of that for granted (like a fish to water), you will not suffer the consequences of a Trump administration like those  who do not enjoy the same privileges (though all of us will suffer).

If elected, the day President Trump takes office, the world will change dramatically.  Both houses of Congress will be controlled by Republicans and dominated by the Freedom Caucus, the most extreme stripe of the Republican Party.  Legislation will begin to flow, but unlike now, there will be no Democratic President to veto it.  The path forward will be clear for enactment of a right-wing, populist, anti-government agenda steeped in anger and contaminated with various versions of bigotry.  So for example, the new Congress will make good on their promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with tax subsidies or nothing at all.  That means millions of low income people who currently rely on Medicaid or health exchange subsidies for their healthcare, will no longer have access to that care.  (Although 51% of Americans want to repeal the ACA, that’s because most of them (58%) want to replace it with a federally funded system like Medicare for all).

But legislative changes are just one part of the picture.  What doesn’t get talked about enough is the way in which the raw power of the Executive branch itself, will impact people’s lives.  In addition to ruling through Executive Order, on day one, Donald Trump will begin populating the reins of government with new staff, with Trumpian decision makers (selected for their positions under the direction from the likes of Roger Ailes, Steve Bannon, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, etc.) who will set the standards and priorities for government action across a sweeping set of issues and realities for millions of people[2].  These new minions will flow into all of the federal departments and authorities – from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the Department of Justice (DOJ), from the Department of Education (DOE) to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and on and on.  Their reach will extend into every corner of life, particularly for those who lack any sort of political power.  Here’s just a sampling of what that will likely mean:

• For poor children living in a city, new decision makers in the EPA will decide the degree to which they will be able to drink water free of lead, and breathe air free of carcinogens and pollutants.

• For low or medium-income teenagers, the new decision makers in the Department of Education will determine whether they can attend college, by affecting their access to grants and loans (79% of Americans do not see college as affordable); for those who are African American, new decision makers in DOJ will decide whether their civil rights will be aggressively or limply defended.

• For those of the Muslim faith, decision makers in the CIA or NSA will decide how aggressively they will be surveilled, and those in DOJ will decide where the boundaries of their civil rights lie, or whether to pursue and prosecute those who may threaten them out of bigotry or hate.

• Children of illegal immigrants will have to wonder whether the new decision makers in the Immigration Service are going to deport their parents. (72% of Americans do not believe illegal immigrants should be deported)

All of these everyday decisions and thousands more, taken by the federal bureaucracy, will have a penetrating influence on what happens in the everyday lives of millions of Americans.  This is not symbolic or abstract.  It is practical and very real.

And that’s all before we’ve even considered what a Trump administration would mean for the federal courts, and most particularly the Supreme Court, which will be profound and generational in scope.  With at least one and as many as three new lifetime Supreme Court appointments coming up in the next administration, and likely to be filled by Trump with Scalia-like Justices, we can expect a changed world for decades to come.  These changes could very realistically include:

• No constitutional right to abortion (56% of Americans support this right)
• Destruction of labor unions (56% of Americans support labor unions)
• Disenfranchisement of thousands of voters, especially African Americans and young people
• Decimation of civil rights protections for people of color, women, religious minorities, LGBT people, etc.
• Unfettered infusion of money into politics (72% of Americans was to reduce the influence of money in politics)
• Unfettered access to guns (54% of Americans support stricter gun laws)

. . . among other things.

But wait there’s more.  As Commander in Chief, a President Trump will have broad latitude and largely unchecked authority to interact with the wider world as he sees fit.  He can make foreign policy decisions based on how they enrich his many business interests abroad; he can order our military to violate international law and commit torture, putting our men and women in uniform in danger of being subjected to the same treatment; he can spout off and say ill considered, in-the-moment things that alienate our allies or energize our enemies; he can overreact to petulant dictators and trigger a minor skirmish, a regional war, or a nuclear cataclysm.  Yeah, there’s that.

And this discussion would not be complete without considering what a Trump presidency would mean for climate change.  Again, the consequences would be greatest for the most vulnerable citizens, though in the end we all suffer.  Rising waters and the impact of extreme weather events, guaranteed to occur with increasing frequency as they already have, kill those least able to escape their path or fully prepare for them, destroy property, and disrupt and displace whole populations across the globe.  Just consider the experience of Hurricane Katrina as a prime example.  Trump, backed by the Republican Party, plans to ignore science on this subject, back out of commitments to reduce carbon emissions, and return to coal-fired power plants.  If you see climate change as the existential crisis that I, most Democrats, most Americans (64% according to Gallup) and  99% of the world’s scientists do, you would agree that  this outcome is perhaps THE MOST significant consequence of this election.

Yes, elections do have consequences.

If you cast a vote for Hillary Clinton and she is elected, the results may not be exactly what you would have preferred, in an ideal world.  But what you will have, is a President who is aligned with the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party, and who has already moved to the left on many issues.  And you will have a President who will be beholden to Democratic and Progressive voices who can still influence her on policy, since she is a politician who would be seeking re-election in 4 years.  You will have a President who can keep the conversation moving in the right direction.  You will have none of that if Trump is elected.

But if you sit this election out, either by voting for a third party or by not voting at all, that is, if you choose to exercise your privilege to protest, you will be enabling Donald Trump to become President.  In so doing, you will have a hand in dooming millions of Americans to undeserved suffering and subjecting the world to dangerous and potentially catastrophic consequences.

This is an election that calls for utmost responsibility from every voting age adult.  Come November 8, one of two people will become our next President.  If a Trump presidency is unacceptable to you, if you are committed to a progressive agenda, then register to vote, go the polls, and cast your vote for Hillary Clinton.  Own your part in this democracy, and choose to participate, rather than simply protest.

And then once you’ve helped to elect Hillary Clinton, work hard to hold her accountable for what matters to you, for what you believe will make our country and the world a better place.

That’s how it works. That’s what keeps America great.

 

 

[1] If you live in a solid blue state, your protest vote won’t matter, so I guess you can do whatever you want.  Still, to my mind, strengthening Hillary Clinton’s overall popular vote has value in shoring up her capacity to deliver on a progressive agenda.

[2] Through promulgation of regulations that interpret law, and through enforcement priorities.