A Reply to Pipes' Reply

Submitted by Stuart Fagin (United States), Jul 22, 2016 at 12:25

Replying to Pipes' four points

"Can I be more clear that I do not support Hillary Clinton? " This election has only two plausible outcomes, President Trump or President Clinton. When a conservative chooses not to vote, he implicitly fosters the election of Clinton, even if he does not directly support her.

"I am reconciled to the inevitability of a terrible president ....focusing on Congress, the governorships, and the state legislatures, as well as building a strong conservative movement." A central project of the Obama administration has been the eradication of both Federalism (for example, the absurd interference with North Carolina's bathroom legislation), and the primacy of Congress (for example, the subvention of Congress's immigration laws). Protecting Federalism and the institution of Congress requires that Clinton, who will surely continue these trends, not be president.

"Concern about Supreme Court justices should translate into giving money to and working for maintenance of the Republican majority in the Senate...." It is unlikely the GOP will keep their Senate majority because (a) far more GOP seats are in play, and (b) Trump has very unfavorable coattails. Even if successfully held, a GOP Senate majority will not refuse to confirm a Clinton nominee because of their ideology. They never have before. The only way to prevent a progressive transformation of the Supreme Court is to keep Clinton out of the presidency.

"Trump's ignorant, wild-man comments put the country at risk". True, but isn't this risk far less than that of electing a President who is pledged to the Iran nuclear agreement? If Trump fulfills his vow to withdraw from the agreement, admittedly uncertain, does this not outweigh his reckless comments?

A Trump presidency will likely discredit the GOP, and make it harder to ensure that conservative governance remains its guiding doctrine. As awful as this is, it is outweighed by the permanent threat to American democratic governance presented by a Clinton presidency.

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