I have voted for many lesser or poor candidates because I had to vote due to fear or great unknown or to follow the party.

Guess what, all the poor "lesser of two evils" candidates (Mondale, Kerry, Gore, Clinton) did not change the world. In our Republic the founders set up a system to weather the storm. Therefore, vote for the candidate you feel good about. When you leave the booth you need to feel good about your decision. I have embraced this philosophy now because both candidates are terrible- we have had 30+ years of the rich getting richer and they both represent the status quo (establishment).

For me, Hillary is not an option due to all the flaw character, professional, and political issues that have surrounded her during her entire life. Besides she has no moral compass- she flip flops and just does what is best for her. Therefore, I will vote for someone else.

My options:
Jill Stein- if she gets on the state of Washington ballot
Gary Johnson
Not vote for president- but vote for everyone else
Heck even Trump- because our world will not end with one bad president- matter of fact this might help propel us to a quicker and better change.

Please avoid a write in, because in all likelihood your ballot will be spoiled or not get counted. Make sure you understand your state's write in laws. Please note when there is a "special" ballot the election clerk and team do not take the time and energy to really count them just my personal experience.

But if all of us start following this approach (vote with your heart) then this country would be in much better shape. Of course this is my opinion, and you can now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

If it comes down to Hillary v. Trump, I'm going to vote for Jill Stein. I can't bring myself to vote for anyone that's antithetical to my personal principles, so I will not hold my nose and vote for Hillary just because she's a Democrat. If Trump wins, there are three points of solace for me: 1) I voted for the best candidate, 2) Trump himself is a wild card with positions all over the map and he's a former Democrat, so I honestly have no idea what he plans to do, and 3) the Democratic members of congress will be united in opposing any Republican priorities that Trump wants to push.

Also, keep in mind that it's not at all certain that Hillary would unequivocally protect Roe v. Wade either, since she's said that she's for partial bans on late term abortion. To me, giving even an inch on choice is opening up the door to an eventual repeal in the future. That is not what a Democratic candidate should be espousing. After Obama nominated Garland for the SCOTUS, I'm not convinced that Hillary's picks would be any better, as she would argue that she has to "compromise" to "get things done."

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/03/hillary-clinton-late-term-ab...

I guess it really comes down to whether or not you believe anything Hillary says and who you think will be the lesser evil. I'm still hoping that Bernie pulls off a major upset or the superdelegates come to their senses, but as that scenario becomes less and less likely, I'm ready to abandon the establishment and work toward building something better over the course of the next two to four years.

Much as I hate to say it - I think Trump is the safer bet. Not that you should vote FOR him, you could vote your conscience and vote for Jill Stein as a progressive candidate, and not have to worry about taking a vote from Hillary.

Trump is NOT religious, not even a little bit. That's one thing we CAN be sure of. He has absolutely no ideological belief in that issue. Sure, he says what the right-wingers want to hear, but no way would be do anything to restrict abortion access.

Sadly, I'm not sure the same is true of Hillary.

The other problem is - it almost doesn't matter. States are now making abortion illegal except to save the life of the mother - I'm not sure how that's even allowed, but apparently it is. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/05/19/oklahoma-l...

The truth is neither of them is going to fight for unrestricted access to abortions. But I think Trump might actually be irreligious enough not to buy into the banning movement.

In this election, there are NO good choices.

I viscerally hate what the Clintons have brought to the Democratic party---socially liberal/fiscally conservative free market right-wing bullshit. An ideology that serves profits first and people second. They are corrupt, plain and simple.

On the other hand, I know too many Muslim and Latino Americans that are actually threatened by a Trump presidency. People I really care about. I have to show them support and vote in solidarity with them. The hateful rhetoric of Trump cannot be rewarded. That will be more devastating to our cause than anything.

The only positive thing about Hillary is that she will be the first female president. That is really it, but I won't be voting for her, I'll be voting in support of people who I care about, rejecting Trump--even if it breaks my heart to do so.

I won't be talking politics this summer or fall. I'll vote in November, but I really have had it with our über capitalist, imperialist two-party system. We are no better than a third world country.

My fear with Hillary is that she will be so eager to secure a "legacy" that she will sell the soul of the Democratic Party to achieve it. She will willingly sign ever more restrictive abortion measures passed by Congress. She will nominate Supreme Court Justices that are hollow on abortion rights. On abortion, she will revert to her true nature, which is more toward the anti-abortion side of the ledger than the pro-choice side. Is Trump better or worse? Hard to say, but this election may prove to be a true dilemma, with no "lesser evil" available.

I live in a totally red state; in the general election our few delegates will go to Trump. So my vote is literally meaningless. I will see what I feel like doing in November--if Bernie is not on the ballot, we do have write-in options.

Even if I really wanted Hillary to win, it still wouldn't matter how I vote, the state goes Republican no matter what.

What I want is a Constitutional amendment to do away with the electoral college and choose the president with the popular vote.

were as thoughtful and as conscious and conscientious as you, the future would be bright for us all.

I couldn't advise you how to vote. Several commenters have urged you to follow your heart. I seldom tell folks to do what their hearts say until I've seen some evidence they have one and that it functions :=)
I think yours is a heart I would trust.

Also, I advise something that I struggle with myself: patience and an open mind. You have a long time until Nov 8 - a summer and fall is an eternity in politics. I guess my best advice is to be compassionate with yourself and to give yourself the grace of keeping your options open until you stand in the voting line on Nov 8. The person you are now is not the person you will be on Nov 8; the world today is not the same as the world will be on Nov 8 and the candidates now are not the candidates then (except for Bernie, of course :=)

Best wishes and please consider commenting more and writing more posts. Us older duffers need to hear your voice often.

I was raised in a Democratic household. We would carry the damned (Democratic) newspaper list of endorsements to vote and pass it one-to-the-next. Family voting was how I started out. I have carried my kids into the old voting booth with the arm-operated curtain to register my votes. I have lost my religion for the Democratic Party, no love of the Republican Party. Vote your heart. As Gerrit said, Nov is months away. All will surely be different then, and the way may be more apparent for us both.

Democratic Party voter and active member in retirement years. Obviously we all make our own decisions, but given the state of global warming and no imminent sign of keeping fossil fuels in the ground and doing other things we need to do to slow the trajectory to extinction, I cannot and will not vote for those who aren't leading this battle. Bernie, thus far, is the only contender with a chance who has addressed it as the urgent issue it is. I think this is the real Bernie or Bust equation. The life or death issue. Hillary and Trump are double sided heads on the coin of extinction. IMO

(works both ways -- the age AND the decade born).

I've been holding my nose and voting since I first had the right (1980), until 2008. I admit I was suckered by Obama's "hope and change." I actually bought into that. (Amazing that I could still be so naive at that age!) By 2012, I was well and truly disabused of that notion.

When this all started, I was willing to hold my nose and vote for Hillary if she won over Bernie. The more I see of the woman, how she handles herself, how she handles people she thinks are beneath her, how she's striven to be More Hawkish Than Thou, how much she just assumes she should be *given* the nomination, and how she can't seem to take two breaths without lying about something, I've realised there's no way in hell I'm voting for her. I'll vote for Bernie if he's 3rd party, or Jill Stein if he's not, and either will probably be meaningless, because Maryland is comfortably blue and in the bag for Clinton. But even if it weren't, I would vote the same way. I've had enough of holding my nose. Especially when there's actually a decent candidate available -- the first decent candidate of my voting lifetime.

It took me quite a while to get to that point. In the end, you can only be guided by your own conscience, and your own stomach.