Late Wednesday evening, longtime critic of Donald Trump, Senator Ben Sasse, tweeted a series of thoughts on 2016. He published them on Facebook as “An Open Letter to Majority America.”
Sasse argues America deserves better choices than Hillary Clinton and Trump.
If you are one of those rare souls who genuinely believe Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are honorable people – if they are the role models you want for your kids – then this letter is not for you.
In the letter, he quotes various people who spoke to him at the Fremont Walmart that day.
**Retired union Democrat meat-packer: “What the heck is wrong with that city where you work? Why can’t they give us a normal person? Is it really so hard?” Me: “Actually, it is for them – because most people in DC buy the nonsense that DC is the center of the world. You and I, despite our party differences, both agree that Fremont is the center.” Union Democrat (interrupting): “…Because this is where my grandkids are.” **Young evangelical mom: “I want to cry. I disagree with Hillary Clinton on almost every single thing – but I will vote for her before Trump. I could never tell my kids later that I voted for that man.”
Sasse also says “party bosses” have been trying to get him on board with Trump.
I’ve ignored my phone most of today, but the voicemail is overflowing with party bosses and politicos telling me that “although Trump is terrible,” we “have to” support him, “because the only choice is Trump or Hillary.”
He goes on to rip the functionality of both political parties.
Neither political party works. They bicker like children about tiny things, and yet they can’t even identify the biggest issues we face. They’re like a couple arguing about what color to paint the living room, and meanwhile, their house is on fire. They resort to character attacks as step one because they think voters are too dumb for a real debate.
Sasse makes the case for a third choice.
With Clinton and Trump, the fix is in. Heads, they win; tails, you lose. Why are we confined to these two terrible options? This is America. If both choices stink, we reject them and go bigger. That’s what we do. Remember: our Founders didn’t want entrenched political parties. So why should we accept this terrible choice?
However, he clarified that choice won’t be him, and doesn’t necessarily need to be very conservative.
(Two notes for reporters: **Such a leader should be able to campaign 24/7 for the next six months. Therefore he/she likely can’t be an engaged parent with little kids. **Although I’m one of the most conservative members of the Senate, I’m not interested in an ideological purity test, because even a genuine consensus candidate would almost certainly be more conservative than either of the two dishonest liberals now leading the two national parties.)
Read his whole letter here.
