By Marcial Bonifacio

My friends and American countrymen, I am a constitutional conservative and am no advocate for Donald Trump.  In fact, I have been very critical of him in my two commentaries titled “Are Trump Conservatives Irrational?” and “Why Conservatives Should Cruz with the Best and Trump the Rest . . . including the Donald.”  Anyway, I am also a pragmatist.  As such, I view the leftist progressivism of Hillary Clinton (more so than Trump’s populist-nationalism) as an imminent threat to conservatism, namely in her Supreme Court justice appointees.  Clinton herself clearly vocalized in the last presidential debate that she favors justices who would uphold same-sex marriage and the pro-abortion Roe vs. Wade ruling.

By contrast, Trump has vowed to appoint justices “in the mold of Scalia,” including the constitutional conservative Sen. Mike Lee, whom Sen. Ted Cruz said “would make an extraordinary justice.”  This issue of the Supreme Court justices alone is sufficient reason to keep Clinton away from the White House because as political commentator Dennis Prager points out, “Left-wing judges pass so many left-wing laws that they render those who control Congress, and even the White House, almost irrelevant.”

Political reality is such that only Trump, not Gary Johnson or Evan McMullen, can beat Clinton.  Some of Cruz’s staunchest supporters (who are #NeverTrump conservatives) have vowed to write-in Cruz’s name on the ballot.  However, Cruz himself has said, “I am not encouraging anybody to write my name in.  That is not something I am suggesting that anybody do. . . We lost the race.  I recognize that.  I respect the democratic process.  I respect the will of the people.”

That is precisely the only reason why I, along with Sen. Ted Cruz, Mark Levin, and Dennis Prager, urge conservatives to vote for Donald Trump---not because he is the icon of conservatism and the champion of America’s founding fathers, but because as Cruz says, “Donald Trump is the only thing standing in her [Clinton’s] way.”  For the #NeverTrump conservative whose conscience prevents you from voting for Trump, I must ask you:  How can your conscience be clear, if Clinton wins the presidency due to your refrain from voting for Trump?  Consequently, would her election make you feel better knowing the adverse repercussions it will have on your children and grandchildren (in terms of life, liberty, the national debt, the economy, etc.) ?

“The choice this November is tragic,” states Prager. “As it often happens in life, this choice is between bad and worse, not bad and good. . . When forced to choose between bad and worse, we supported Joseph Stalin against Adolf Hitler, and we supported right-wing authoritarians against Communist totalitarians.”  Therefore Trump would be the less unfavorable choice in order to defeat Clinton.

Furthermore, if you are concerned that Trump’s newly adopted conservative positions are all a charade in order to get elected to the presidency, and he reneges on his promises as president, there is another course of action conservatives can undertake.  The founders have established a process by which delegates can hold a Convention of States in order to propose amendments to the Constitution.  It is designed to curb or restrain the power of the federal government in the event that it becomes unresponsive to the states or the people and serves as an alternative to another constitutional convention.  The process is outlined in Article V of the Constitution and is advocated by Mark Levin, Gov. Bobby Jindal, Sen. Tom Coburn, Gov. Greg Abbott, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sean Hannity, Gov. Mike Huckabee, and other prominent conservatives.

Lastly, I suggest conservatives meet their delegates in the Rules Committee of the Republican Party to add a few clauses, which would make the GOP more effective in the next presidential election and others to come.  For example, a “Closed or Republican Exclusivity Clause” would only permit registered Republicans to vote in the Republican primaries.  Political commentator at RedState.com Michael Harrington has estimated that Trump's voters in the primary were composed of only 3.3 million Republicans, while the rest were composed of 12 million Democrats.  Many political analysts contend that if such a clause took effect in the primaries, Cruz would have won the nomination, instead of Trump, since the former tallied well in most of the closed primaries.

The additional amendment to the rules would include a “Conscience Clause,” which would serve as a safeguard against politically weak candidates as Trump.  The proposal would allow the current 1,237 delegates to freely vote their conscience on the first ballot, rather than automatically binding them to their state's primary or caucus.  It would also help prevent discouraged conservatives from joining the #NeverTrump voters, and thus maximize votes for the Republican Party.  Sen. Mike Lee has been at the forefront of this effort as well as being a prominent member of the Rules Committee.

In conclusion, my friends and fellow conservatives, if you want to defeat Hillary Clinton and restore constitutional principles to the American Republic, do not write in Ted Cruz’s name on the ballot, and do not stay home and refrain from your civic duty.  Go to the polls on November 8^th, and vote for Donald Trump.  Join the Convention of States movement, and pressure your delegates to add a “Republican Exclusivity Clause” and a “Conscience Clause” to the election rules.

Long live Liberty!  Long live the U.S.A.!

Comments

Devlin Baker I read it, not sure what you were hoping from someone that is by definition a christian and constitutionalist to read someone that claims to be a constitutional conservative, then confesses he is really just a pragmatist.

Great appeal to the pragmatists with no convictions though

Like · Reply · 2 · October 30 at 9:55am

Marcial BonifacioI appreciate your perspective, Devlin, but is it not possible to be both? If your family is being threatened by an assailant, and the only practical way to save them at the moment is to shoot him, what would you do? Would you adhere to the Christian principle of refraining from killing, or would you take a more practical approach to save your family?

Life is full of such unfavorable choices. However, reasonable compromises are necessary in times when our choices are limited due to reality, are they not?

Like · Reply · October 30 at 11:14pm

Kayleen Knisley My conscience is clear...
#NeverTrump
#NeverHillary

Like · Reply · October 30 at 9:44pm

Marcial Bonifacio That means if Clinton becomes the next president due to your refrain from voting for Trump, you will not feel any guilt or remorse, Kayleen?

Like · Reply · October 30 at 11:18pm · Edited

Kayleen Knisley I will not feel guilt or remorse.. my conscience will be clear.

Like · Reply · October 30 at 11:23pm

Marcial Bonifacio What about if more lives are aborted due to Clinton's Supreme Court justices, which you can help prevent?

Like · Reply · October 30 at 11:46pm

Kayleen Knisley Trump is so unstable. So many issues are made of the Supreme Court, but big like decisions Roe v. Wade were made with a majority Republican Supreme Court. Too much "fear" is being played upon and not enough logic, in my opinion. The way I see it, is if Trump goes in, we lose the Senate, and will not gain the House. Also, if he wins the GOP will never recover. Look how he's divided us. If Trump wins, the GOP will be too busy trying to contain him to be aware of what the other side is doing. Add to it, Trump only ran as a Republican because he knew he could not beat Hillary for the Democratic nomination.

Like · Reply · October 31 at 7:29am

Kayleen Knisley I hear so many people trying to justify voting for evil because Supreme Court Justices are at stake. Do these people not realize that a majority of Republican nominated judges voted to pass Roe vs. Wade and many other abortion cases? Not to mention a Republican nominated judge voted in favor of Obamacare? The Senate can stop Hillary Clinton's nominations if they so choose to do so. But I hear no one mentioning that fact.
Solution:
We need to stop voting for parties but for candidates who will support Godly values and the Constitution. Secondly, we need Congress to do their job and impeach when necessary. Thirdly, we need states to step up and nullify unconstitutional federal laws and Supreme Court opinions.

Like · Reply · October 31 at 7:32am

Marcial Bonifacio You have made some valid points, Kayleen. However, conservatives are more informed and mindful of history, thus the prevalence of the Tea Party.

Anyway, in order to restore constitutional principles to the American government, it would be much easier to do so without a Clinton presidency. Even as much of a RINO as Trump is, the conservatives in Congress can put him in check, so that if he betrays them, they can simply vote against his progressive policies or impeach him. If that doesn't work, then the American people can meet with their state delegates and propose a Convention of States, as I mentioned in my commentary.

In the meantime, we can at least prevent a Clinton presidency by electing Trump because with a Clinton presidency, conservatives will lose. With a Trump presidency, conservatives may win, even if only a little bit.

Like · Reply · November 1 at 12:31am · Edited

Marvin Remmers Kayleen Knisley , if Hillary wins and Democrats take over Congress, then it will be like Obama's first couple years where he was able to nominate radically liberal justices and was able to pass Obamacare. We need to vote for Trump and we need to vote for Republicans for Congress.

Like · Reply · November 1 at 1:23am

Kayleen Knisley Which is why we Need to vote the down ticket!
Trump will lose the senate and congress

Like · Reply · November 1 at 7:17am

Kayleen Knisley http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/trump-constitution.../...

Trump: The Constitution Isn’t Always Relevant

thelibertarianrepublic.com

Like · Reply · November 1 at 7:35am

Dean Edward Nicely Oh so now you want to urge us to vote for Trump?
First have Trump apologize then all you pieces of shit can apologize to me personally for your backwards ass inbred bullshit youall put us through with your vile crap.
I'll wait.

Like · Reply · November 2 at 6:23pm

Marcial Bonifacio I agree completely with you, Dean, that Trump owes Cruz an apology, which I don't expect him to ever give. However, we must now look beyond his flawed character and save the country from a Clinton presidency. Cruz himself said Trump is the only thing standing in her way, and Cruz will also vote for Trump.

Like · Reply · 20 hrs

Dean Edward Nicely I concur.

Like · Reply · 14 hrs

The post How #NeverTrump Conservatives, Constitutionalists, and Libertarians Can Defeat Hillary Clinton and Restore Constitutional Principles to the Republic first appeared on Marcial's Law.