On Tuesday, I will be confronted with a deadline. The question is simple: For whom shall I vote?
This forces me to make a choice—which potentially complicates what I do here. There is an argument that straight reporters shouldn’t vote for ethical reasons (they must remain impartial). We can argue over whether or not that has always been a phony expectation, but I do suppose that voting for someone might give a reporter a rooting interest in their success.
As an opinion journalist, I have never felt compelled to observe this tradition. But in the interest of transparency, when I am forced to choose a candidate (as is the case on Tuesday), I feel it’s important to disclose that to you.
This year, I believe it is my moral obligation is to use my vote to try to stop (or protest) the nomination of Donald J. Trump. (I don’t think I need to explain to regular readers why I believe Trump must be stopped; suffice it to say he would redefine what it means to be a conservative and a Republican in ways that would be incompatible for me.)
So here’s what I have decided to do: Because I reside in the Commonwealth of Virginia, I have determined that the best way to accomplish this goal is to cast my vote for Sen. [crscore]Marco Rubio[/crscore].
If, however, I lived in the state of Texas, I would be voting for the other good movement conservative, Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore].
As such, this is not an endorsement so much as it is an un-endorsement. I don’t expect my little vote to matter much, but as a loyal reader, you deserve to know where I stand.