The fallacies of Bernie or Bust and Only Trump Can Save Our Nation
Written on 7/28/2016

I was very upset today.

My friend Khris is a good Democrat and a passionate Hillary supporter. She is an older, petite lady, but tenacious. She was in Philadelphia for the DNC Convention and will be travelling back home tomorrow.

She posted a picture on Facebook today of her bruised arm. She had been posting about the rather uncivil Bernie or Busters that are staying at the same motel. Last night, as the bus unloaded the Convention attendees, she was confronted by them. Apparently one of them grabbed her by the arm and yelled at her. The motel kicked him out. Then she woke up this morning with the bruise on her arm.

What to make of this?

The presidential race in the United States is a winner-take-all contest. It is surprising, given this winner-take-all nature of the presidential race that there is actually no majority rule. The winner does not have to get the majority vote, s/he needs to get the biggest share of votes. This was the case when Clinton won and when George W. Bush won. And this one person gets to occupy one of the 3 branches of the government. Just one person. Therefore, the stakes are high during every presidential election cycle and the parties go all out to get their candidate elected. Exorbitant amount of money is spent to get their chosen candidate elected.

This is a good setup for all or nothing attitude in the supporters of the parties and the candidates. It is their candidate or no one. Because their candidate cannot be faulty, they reject everyone else for the reason that they are faulty. That happens even when their candidate has glaring faults that stare you in the eye. Donald Trump's supporters, for example, acknowledge that he is less than truthful, but ascribe it to campaign strategy. As he himself said, "I can shoot somebody in the middle of 5th street and I wouldn't even lose any voters. Ok? It's like incredible." Once the candidate is perceived to be perfect, all the real imperfections cease to exist in their eye.

Many Bernie supporters are still adamantly behind Bernie. They say that Hillary Clinton is as crooked as Donald Trump. They call her "crooked Hillary". But the choice of words is very interesting. Donald Trump has been calling her "crooked Hillary" for a while now, so these Bernie supporters have knowingly or unknowingly adapted Trump's language even when they say they will not vote for Trump. If it's not Bernie, then everyone else is the same. Hence, fallacy #1, false equivalency.

Many of those who say they will not back Clinton or anyone else cling to fallcy #2, perfectionist fallacy, where they will reject everything that is not perfect as unacceptable. You see and hear this all the time. We can't enact gun laws because they won't stop gun violence. Inaction is better than "compromised" action. Perfection or nothing. Bernie or Bust.

Or they now say they will back Jill Stein. But also doesn't make any sense. Stein is not perfect--her action at the DNC's convention, wooing disenchanted Democrats, hawking for their votes, was the kind of hawkish behavior they had been accusing Hillary Clinton of having. Now the perfection they seek has been transposed onto Jill Stein, who, without a political career, but with a long history of running for office, has not yet had the kind of scrutiny that Clinton has had in her many years in public service. It's not even a fair comparison.

Now turning to Trump. Trump has been saying since the announcement of his candidacy that he is the only one who can "make America great again." Whatever that means no one knows, but it harkens back to some past that one looks upon nostalgically. The voters who support Trump for this reason are called, aptly, "nostalgia voters." But this type of nostalgic view of the past American greatness and the present American slide is contradictory to the premise of the Constitution itself. If you believe that this nation is always on the road to perfecting itself as the Declaration of Independence says, then Trump has it wrong. He puts America's great some time in the past, which is in direct contrast to the mission of this country.

If you look at the kind of crowd at Trump's rallies, it is unmistakable that it comprises of mainly white people. They behave as badly as Trump himself, sucker-punching, pushing, cussing at those who protest. They are emboldened by Trump and his behavior, see him as their savior. They mimic his behavior and his speeches. He is the only one who can save the nation now. In this sense, they think no differently than Bernie or Busters. Only he, insert name here, can save the nation. Only HE. He is the only perfect candidate. Fallacy #2--the perfectionist fallacy.

How did the current presidential race become such a personality contest and a show of idolatry? Let cool heads reign. As I wrote in my last blog, voting is an ethical act. Your vote should be a moral choice. Will one candidate over the other, if s/he were to win, cause harm to others? If the answer is yes, then your moral and ethical choice is clear.