Robin Retherford: One of the ‘two evils’ will be president, so pick one

Some people aren’t planning to vote in this election. Many want to vote their conscience without submitting to the lesser of two evils. But one of the “two evils” will be our president. Not voting is like not eating when you only have only two unsavory choices of food. If liverwurst or brussel sprouts are your only options, you can either pick one or say “I wish I had chocolate cake” and starve.

Wishing for chocolate cake is like wishing that voting for a third-party candidate will make a difference this fall, even though we all know it’s down to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. As Bernie Sanders put it recently: “If you don’t vote for Hillary, you are throwing your vote away.”

Aside from being in charge of nuclear missile codes, our president has the power to appoint Supreme Court justices who can make some pretty severe choices about women’s reproductive rights, gun control, minority rights, etc., which will impact us all in the end. So please, if you’re not planning to vote, or if you’re planning on voting third party, think again. There is a time to vote 100 percent one’s conscience, but that time is not now.

This story was originally published October 10, 2016 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Robin Retherford: One of the ‘two evils’ will be president, so pick one."