The Volokh Conspiracy
Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent
A preelection Trumpalooza
Like some other Volokh Conspiracy bloggers, I am going to be voting for the Democratic candidate for president for the first time in my life (for some it may be "only" the first time in decades). In my case, it's not because I'm With Her, but because I am Against Him. Despite her flaws, Hillary Clinton offers the only realistic chance of forestalling a vastly worse outcome. I don't think every marginal voter should necessarily support Clinton, particularly if you live in a state likely to be overwhelmingly Red or Blue. But I do believe that voting for the least bad of the major party candidates is the best course of action for those who live in swing states, including my own home state of Virginia.
The main reasons for that conclusion are that Trump has a much worse policy agenda than Hillary Clinton, his victory threatens to turn the GOP into a big-government xenophobic nationalist party, his authoritarian personality and gratuitous cruelty make him manifestly unfit for the presidency, and that Hillary Clinton is likely to be constrained by divided government, whereas Trump (if he wins) might well be empowered by GOP control of Congress.
In this post, I am not going to try to recapitulate these points in detail. Instead, I offer interested readers a collection of links to what I think are the more significant posts on Trump and the election, written by my co-bloggers and myself. I don't agree with every single point made by my co-bloggers and they likely differ with some of mine. But I think you will see lots of commonality nonetheless. Collectively, the posts amount to a Volokh Conspiracy case against Trump.
Here goes (links organized by author):
Jonathan Adler
Trump won't make federalism great again.
Trump's attack on Hispanic judge Gonzalo Curiel.
Trump only hires the best people—except when it comes to his health care advisers.
The New York Times compelling response to Trump's lawsuit threat.
David Bernstein
How Trump strengthens the case for limiting executive power.
Why Trump is the "simian alpha male" anticonstitutional candidate.
How Utah could potentially save the nation from Trump.
Orin Kerr
Why Orin is With Her, despite not voting for any other Democratic nominee in decades.
Imagining a Trump Justice Department.
Orin on the Clinton e-mail investigation (this post was written before FBI Director James Comey's recent announcement indicating that the newly discovered e-mails do not justify a criminal prosecution of Clinton).
Trump and the politics of deligitimatization.
David Post
Why David is voting for Hillary Clinton.
Trump and the rule of law. and Trump and the rule of law, Part 2.
An open letter to Volokh Conspiracy readers who are Trump supporters—and David's response to the responders.
Ilya Somin
Why Hillary Clinton is a lesser evil than Donald Trump—and why the gap between her and Trump has actually grown, e-mail revelations notwithstanding.
The pitfalls of voting for "change"
The logic of voting for a lesser evil. This post includes responses to several common objections to voting for a lesser evil.
Why constitutional originalists should be #NeverTrump all the way—and why they should not be swayed by his expanded Supreme Court list.
Trump's awful record on property rights—and his lightweight defense of it.
How Trump strengthens the forces of political correctness.
Why Trump is wrong about immigration and sovereignty
Why conservatives should rethink their restrictionist positions on immigration. This post addresses a variety of standard conservative restrictionist arguments, including several that are far more intellectually serious than the claptrap peddled by Trump.
Why immigrants would not be the only victims of Trumpian immigration restrictions and deportations. Large numbers of native-born Americans would suffer too.
Trump's great wall of eminent domain, and how it poses a threat to property rights.
UPDATE: I have updated this post to include several links to posts by Jonathan Adler, which I had previously overlooked.