The list of Republicans who endorse Hillary Clinton for the presidency grows longer every day. Although it doesn’t include Senator John McCain (R-AZ) there are family members, former staffers, and other prominent Republicans who have come out and said publicly that they will vote for Hillary Clinton.
McCain Family
Granddaughter Caroline McCain is the most recent member of the family to endorse Hillary Clinton. In one post published during the Republican convention, McCain urged Republicans not to let Trump lie to them. In second post published on medium.com during the Republican convention, McCain explained that she had given up hope that a better candidate would replace Trump on the Republican ticket. She considered not voting at all, or writing in a candidate she could support. But in the end, she decided that what mattered most was the effect that her vote would have on the country, not the effect on her feelings. “This is not the election I wanted,” she wrote. But, in the end, “these are the choices we have.” A third party candidate has no chance of winning, and if such a candidate did actually win, he or she would find it impossible to govern without any relationships or coalitions built up with another major party.
The last bit of convincing that Caroline McCain needed came from President Obama’s speech on Wednesday night. She found Obama persuasive because he appealed to Republicans as colleagues who care about the country rather than blaming them for failing to stop Trump. Obama made it clear that the choice was between democracy (small D) and demagoguery. So for Caroline McCain, “Never Trump means I’m with her.”
Senator John McCain’s daughter, Meghan McCain, also came out in favor of Hillary Clinton during the Republican convention. As The Hill reported, Meghan was outraged at the contempt with which Trump insulted McCain and denigrated his service and his capture and confinement as a prisoner of war. Ms. McCain tweeted on July 28, “The party I was part of is dead.
Former Staffer
Among the other prominent Republicans who have endorsed Clinton are:
Mark Salter, former Chief of Staff to Senator McCain and manager of his 2008 campaign for president, informed the public on Twitter:
“The GOP is about to nominate for president a guy who reads the National Enquirer and thinks it’s on the level. I’m with her.”
Several other prominent Republicans also are supporting Clinton. According to the Washington Post, they include:
–Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson;
–Richard Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State and adviser to Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush;
–Brent Scowcroft, adviser to three previous Republican Presidents;
–Alan Steinberg, Regional EPA Administrator under President George W. Bush;
Featured image via Flickr by Zach Frailey under The Creative Commons License 2.0.
