The Ideologically Pure Ruin US Politics

[Xithras]

36. Everyone has issues they won't compromise on.

I have my top level issues (environmentalism, LGBT rights, anti-war, etc) which are my core motivating factors politically, and then there are my second level issues (social equality for all, economic justice, etc.)

I'm always a bit flexible on my second level issues. They are things I care deeply about, but not things I'd personally chain myself across a road over. My top level issues are a different story entirely. I would vote for a candidate who didn't hold them as their top issues (for example, an economic justice candidate who didn't put a lot of emphasis on environmental policy), but I will NEVER, under any circumstance, vote for a candidate who actually supports policies that counter my core ideologies (an economic justice candidate who wants to put people to work as loggers). Those issues go beyond what is good for a party or what is good for the country, but touch on my core ideals as a person...and I'd be betraying myself to vote for them.

That's actually why I can't support certain candidates in the current election. I view all candidates through the lens of "will this person do everything humanly possible to keep us out of war, at all costs?" If the answer is no, they'll never get my vote. If the answer is yes, I'll move on to the next issue.

I don't require candidates to be ideologically pure on all issues, but everyone has issues they won't compromise on.