A friend of mine who is a Democrat recently said he would not vote for any of the Republican candidates in a general election. Still, he is considering voting in Alabama's GOP primary on Tuesday, and was wondering who he should vote for.
Here's my answer:
Depends on which candidate you
least like to see as president, should the eventual outcome be a Republican.
The nominee is going to either be Trump, Rubio or Cruz. If your goal is to do
all you can to stop Trump, I'd say vote for either Rubio or Cruz so they could
get closer to stopping him. Alabama this year is awarding GOP delegates as
winner-take-all by congressional delegation, so you should probably vote for
who has best chance in your area. I don't remember where you live exactly, but
OTM or Shelby County would probably be Rubio. Anywhere else in Central Alabama
is probably Cruz. Now, if you most want to stop Cruz -- or Rubio -- then vote
for Trump. But if you want to vote for the least conservative candidate, vote
Kasich. Kasich won't win any delegates in Alabama, but if you just are making a
statement of which is closest to your thinking, that's who I'd advise.
Of course, not everyone is in a state like Alabama. Some do winner-take-all statewide, and some proportion the votes statewide. If you're in winner-take-all, just apply the advice I give above statewide instead of by your district. If proportional, vote for whomever you like best out of Trump, Rubio and Cruz.
This is a tweak of the advice I gave Republicans in Iowa ahead of the caucuses, which you can read at The Clyde Fitch Report.
