Good morning, Leaders!  It’s Friday!

In the past month, two of our adult children posed the question to me in a text, “Are you voting for Trump?”

To give some background, I do not tell our children what to do (I recognize that my ability to influence dropped sharply after they turned six years old). They consult me on matters of career and finance … and now politics.

We learned Wednesday night that Senator Cruz will not be. He’ll be voting his conscience, although I don’t think you’ll find that entry on your ballot. Sore loser, or maybe just loser.

My rationale is complex but my answer is fairly simple.

Rationale:
•I usually vote for the Republican Party. Not because I wholeheartedly agree with everything in their platform by any stretch of the imagination. I don’t. However, I tend to lean more that way based on pro business, less government and less taxation. Whoopee. Call me a moderate, shame my political views, no matter.

•The process may not have yielded a candidate that gets the majority of conservative voters quickly behind him but a previously agreed upon process was followed. The angry electorate has spoken and it produced an angry candidate with the warts and hair…of ugly wrapping but we can only speculate whether the gift inside is beautiful or ugly at this point.

•Not voting at all removes my ability to have an opinion on anything political in the future four years. I can’t complain or brag if I sit on the sidelines rather than participate.

•The independent candidate is truly unconventional but not serious enough to be a contender so it would be synonymous to throwing your vote away.

•I fundamentally disagree with many of the positions of the one true opponent. What if you removed half of the negative claims currently being circulated or “wrote them down” due to potential embellishment. Would it be enough to change your mind? Not for me.

•Looking at the economies of so many other countries that have failed and reviewing key decisions that led to the current state of political and economic affairs, I don’t want us to become the next Japan, Greece, or countless other failed states across the globe who refused to take responsibility for their individual actions and ultimately led to where the global community sits today.

•Gone are the days when we can get most of what we want in a POTUS candidate. Some of our most heralded leaders were crooks, philanderers or just morally corrupt so when we take a realistic look at what the country absolutely needs versus trying to find a contortionist who makes everyone think they are perfect, we find that the bare minimum may have to be enough.

Note: I wrote and posted before the RNC Convention wraps up so if he delivers the speech of a lifetime or if he lays an ostrich egg, it really doesn’t matter.

Answer:
I am voting Republican. I plan to vote for Trump.

Have a blessed weekend!