<x Boot, a columnist for the New York Times, has a message for the American public: “Vote against all Republicans. Every single one.” He goes on to state that: “If you’re sick and tired, too, here is what you can do. Vote for Democrats on Tuesday. For every office. Regardless of who they are. And I say that as a former Republican. Some Republicans in suburban districts may claim they aren’t for Trump. Don’t believe them. Whatever their private qualms, no Republicans have consistently held Trump to account. They are too scared that doing so will hurt their chances of reelection. If you’re as sick and tired as I am of being sick and tired about what’s going on, vote against all Republicans. Every single one. That’s the only message they will understand.”
I have voted for Democrats for every office in past elections; I will be voting for Democrats for every office on November 6, and I will likely continue to vote for Democrats for every office in future elections. But still, I sit uncomfortably with the notion that we should vote for politicians “regardless of who they are.” This kind of blatant and blind partisanship plagues every domain of American politics, and I feel uneasy supporting it. If I do continue to vote for Democrats up and down the ballot, I will do so as thoughtfully and deliberately as possible.
That said, I don’t think that Boot is arguing for blind partisanship as a general rule. I think he is acknowledging that at this moment in time, democracy is more threatened by President Trump and Mitch McConnell taking partisanship to an extreme than it is by partisanship in and of itself. I feel no choice but to support this blind partisanship on Tuesday, because the alternative is allowing President Trump to continue to threaten, degrade, dehumanize, and discriminate against many, many individuals and groups in our country. To defeat extreme partisanship in the future, I am afraid we must engage in it on November 6.