I read Carol Thomas’ recent letter to the editor (“Neither candidate is worthy,” Our Readers’ Views, Sept. 3) with empathy and dread. Voters like Thomas will enter a write-in vote for president. In their personal world, that’s the morally right thing to do, and it may give them a warm, cozy feeling of moral righteousness. I get that.
In the real world, however, it is a virtual certainty that our next president with be either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris. Voting for a third-party or a write-in candidate essentially is throwing your vote away. Trump’s rabid MAGA base will be out in force to vote for him in what likely will be a very close race. If significant numbers of non-MAGA Republicans, independents and Democrats throw their votes away, it could hand the election to Trump.
While it may make you feel great to take the “moral high ground” with a write-in vote in your personal world, in the greater, real world, it’s critically important to consider who will do the least damage to our democracy. Also consider, will that warm glow keep you feeling good about your write-in choice if Trump starts implementing Project 2025? Its cover page title says it all: “Mandate for Leadership 2025: The Conservative Promise.”
