Understanding Never Trump

At this point in the election, we are faced with a binary decision this
November Clinton vs. Trump. As the election nears and the race tightens, many
longtime conservatives are refusing to vote for the Republican nominee. These are
the Never Trumpers. Now, we can call them traitors and what not, but that doesnt
do us any good, so what is their reasoning? Never Trumpers give plenty or long-
winded answers to why they wont vote for Trump, but in actuality it boils down to
only two reasons: 1.) Moral Narcissism and 2.) Different Risks Calculations.
So what do I mean by Moral narcissism? Well, many of the classic reasons
that Never Trumpers refuse to endorse Donald Trump is that they cant morally
support a candidate who has said so many egregious things. The examples range
from implying that Raphael Cruz (father of Ted Cruz) helped aid in the Kennedy
Assassination, not condemning the KKKs David Duke, to mocking a gold star family.
These Never Trumpers use the same logic for Hillary Clinton and in most cases
will openly admit that they find Clinton to be worse than Trump. But if they think
that Clinton is worse, wouldnt they vote for Trump? No. This group of Never
Trumpers proudly proclaims that they are going to vote down ballet, because they
dont believe in sacrificing their values. To them, it would be immoral to vote for a
candidate if the candidate doesnt meet their ethical standards.
The other main argument is based on different risk assessments of the two
candidates. One of their strongest arguments, is that Trump is destroying the
conservative movement They believe that if Trump wins, he will probably run
again in four years and we as a nation will have 8 years of not running a true
conservative. The fear here is that the Republican Party will mold their values
around Trumpian conservatism and there will no longer be a true conservative
movement. However, if Trump loses, the Republican Party can run a better
candidate in 4 years. The debate here is how bad would a Clinton presidency be?
There is no knowing and this is where the Never Trumpers have a different risk
calculation than Trump voters. Simply put, the Never Trumpers believe that the
damage Trump will do to the conservative movement will be worse in the long term
than a four-year Clinton presidency. These voters will often vote down ballet as
well, but some are actually voting for Hillary Clinton.
The Never Trumpers are not the enemy and this is not an easy decision for
any of them especially because Hillary Clinton is such a deplorable alternative
option. Fortunately, many Never Trumpers have recently endorsed Trump and
more will as the election nears, but this group could make the difference between
who is the commander in chief for the next four years.