My 2020 Ballot

I cast my die, dropping off my ballot at the Alexandria Board of Elections today without incident.

I voted in favor of both proposed amendments to the Virginia constitution. The First provides for a non-partisan commission to draw congressional and state legislative districts and the second forgives the property tax levied on the automobiles of disabled veterans.

I voted for Republican Jeff Jordan for Representative against Democrat incumbent Don Beyer. Jordan is a Trump-esq Republican with little chance of winning the election in a “safe” Democratic district. Don Beyer, on the other hand, disgusts me just thinking about him. He has introduced little in meaningful legislation that goes on to become law but otherwise serves as a garden-variety congressional blowhard. My community will be better for his retirement and my vote here serves as a protest. 

I voted for Republican Daniel Gade for Senate against Democrat incumbent Mark Warner. I have a backstory with Gade, who graduated from West Point in the same class as my partner Siobhan’s late husband Phillip. Gade, who was recovering from a high-hip leg amputation at the time from combat in Iraq, attended Phillip’s funeral. When Siobhan spoke at her late husband’s class reunion, Gade, then a professor at West Point, had been tasked with securing the venue.

I learned that after the loss of his leg, Gade faced a difficult and painful recovery, but through grit and determination, persevered and went on, among other things, to complete the Ironman Arizona and the “Race Across America,” a cross-continental race from San Diego to Annapolis. As a cyclist with two healthy legs, I profoundly admire what Mr. Gade has gone on to achieve with just one.

But that’s not to say that I’m completely enamored with Mr. Gade. When I reached out to him to set up a talk before West Point cadets on the important lessons I’ve drawn from the unpunished murder of Siobhan’s late husband, Gade offered me little assistance. He instead, quite literally, directed me to the phone book.

So why did I vote for Gade? From my observation, it appears that Gade’s understanding of the need for limited government is more akin to what the Republican party used to stand for before it became infested with Trump-esq populism. To be sure, Gade is an evangelical so he takes, among other things, a view of abortion counter to mine. But when Gade argues in non-religious terms and speaks of the big picture, his arguments resonate with me far, far more than Democrat incumbent Mark Warner’s arguments. Moreover, I see a compelling need to keep the Senate Republican. When there are few voices that one can unequivocally support, divided government is the best means to protect against partisan excesses.

Last, I voted for Libertarian Jo Jorgensen for President. I cannot abide by the Democrats’ ongoing push for increased socialism, but I find the idea that Donald Trump is somehow the appropriate counter absurd. If Republicans are fated to lose the White House in 2020, they must come to realize that they did so, in part, because they pushed people like me—a person who consistently supports personal liberty in both economic and cultural matters—out of their coalition. Trump is an unprincipled, range-of-the moment, nationalist populist. He is gasoline in the face of conflict. When he says or does something I like, such as his Independence Day speech, it reads like an accident. Trump reveals his real self in his Twitter feed and his inane extemporaneous speeches. He plays to base emotion and mongers in conspiracy. We know this. I will not sanction it.

Of course, life for any advocate of individual rights will be hard whoever wins the upcoming election. Jorgensen cannot, and Biden (and those behind Biden) are a disaster. We also know this. Moreover, I know my vote, in the end, is worth little.

But the larger task of preserving and expanding freedom and justice in America—to that task I remain committed. In that task, I see hope. However you choose to exercise your vote, I hope you see hope and remain committed as well.