The Evil of Two Lessers
Or...what did George Will say?
I began to seriously pay attention to politics in the early 1990s, just after I returned home from serving in the United States Army. By “seriously pay attention” I mean reading about history, and politics, and watching smart people talk about public policy on the television. This was, of course, before the Internet. Back then, I was drawn to one particular writer, George Will. He said something during the 1992 Presidential election that struck me and I haven’t forgotten it. But to be honest, I’m really not 100% sure that he said it. It would be over thirty years ago now, and a quick Google search doesn’t reveal the quote from him, though plenty of others have said it. So, I could be all wrong attributing it to Mr. Will, but I’m going with it until someone shows me I’m wrong.
Back then, as I recall, many people were referring to the 1992 presidential election as having to choose between the “lesser of two evils.” George HW Bush, the incumbent, wasn’t all that conservative, it had been a rocky presidency with a war in the middle east and all that reading of lips and such. Bill Clinton was clearly no choice for conservatives either, with his left leaning policy proposals and his extra-marital dalliances. Conservatives didn’t want either of them, and we were to hold our nose and vote for the “lesser of two evils”. George Will said that he didn’t think either was the “lesser” of two evils, but that Clinton was the “evil of two lessers.” That really rang true for that election. Bush, for whatever faults he had, was a decent man and governed well, all things considered. Clinton was very popular, despite being a not very good person, deeply corrupted, a womanizer and a liar. He truly was the “evil” of the two flawed candidates.
That leads me to the 2024 election. Donald Trump and Joe Biden are the presumptive nominees of their respective parties. Donald Trump is a felon (however likely it may be that his conviction is overturned on appeal) and a blowhard who can’t go five minutes without telling you that his hands are bigger than your hands. Joe Biden is not just a progressive, but he’s a corrupted, lying politician. And it is now obvious to anyone watching that he isn’t capable of doing the job given his mental decline due, probably, to just getting old.
We aren’t dealing with, as George Will maybe put it in 1992, the “evil of two lessors”. We are in fact dealing with two evil men, neither of whom should be president. If you are reading that and getting irritated with me, it’s likely because you don’t see one or the other as evil. Flawed perhaps, but better than the other guy. But I contend that you are blinded to the faults of your preferred candidate by the glaringly obvious faults of the guy you don’t like. I have said for the last two elections and say it again for the current election: they are each the best reason to vote for the other.
It is high time the collective “we” choose better candidates.