I am taking the extraordinary measure of writing to you
today because, as an Elector in the Electoral College, you have the great honor
of participating in a solemn Constitutional duty. I am sure you appreciate the
awesome power you hold in your hands, no matter how much the rest of us typically
take your role for granted.
Frankly, I am afraid. I am afraid for our country, our
ideals, our future. I have been observing Donald Trump for years, and his words
and actions, especially since the start of the current campaign, are deeply,
deeply troubling to me. Please understand, this is my own assessment as an
attentive, informed citizen, and this isn’t about ideology. If the candidate
who won was Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio or John Kasich or Jeb Bush, I would not be
writing this letter.
I know you have been paying as much attention to the
campaign as I have, so I won’t rehash it here. Instead, I will just point to several
things to consider:
·
Large number of voters for Donald Trump believe he is unqualified, and are scared or
concerned about him
·
Lack of action to atone and unify from
unprecedented divisive campaign
·
The rash of reports of bigotry incidents in
Donald Trump’s name
·
Selection of a prominent white nationalist and
anti-Semite as White House Chief Strategist
·
Threats of legal action against those who speak
ill of him, and unusually limited press access
·
Russian interference and secret back-channel
communications
·
Unnecessary FBI interjection within weeks and
days of the election
One of the reasons the Founding Fathers created the
Electoral College was to prevent unqualified individuals from reaching office. I
urge you to consider, for yourself, for our country: Do you really, truly trust Donald Trump to be President?
If your answer is a
resounding yes—then I wish I had your confidence, and I hope that at least
you will use whatever weight you have available to make sure that Donald Trump
does not become what many of us fear he could be, and to call on him to be a
better leader.
If you hesitated at
all, then I strongly urge you to vote differently. While I hope that you
might look to the strong recommendations of our newspaper editorial boards,
conservative thinkers, economists, and national security experts and vote for
Hillary Clinton, I do understand if that is a bridge too far for you. In that
case, I would urge you to vote for another individual, anyone, who you believe
to be better suited for President—perhaps someone who could be a consensus
moderate. If Donald Trump’s electoral votes drop below 270, Congress will pick
from the top three candidates that the Electors have voted for.
I am aware that asking you to do this may place you at
personal risk. I also understand that succeeding may lead to some chaos. I do
not take these things lightly. However, I firmly believe that the future of our
country is in peril if Donald Trump is inaugurated in two short months, and
your vote may be the only chance to stop it from happening.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I do
not envy the decision before you, but I trust you as a fellow American.
Sincerely,
Nicholas C. Bauer, PhD