Politics

Meet the Republicans Who Want to Elect Hillary Clinton

June 15th 2016

In a world where some Bernie Sanders supporters are hesitant, if altogether unwilling to vote for Hillary Clinton, it seems like there's no chance of Republicans turning their backs on their own nominee to cast a Clinton vote, right?

But guess what?

Republicans for Hillary 2016 is, in fact, a thing.

Republicans for Hillary 2016 is a PAC founded by Craig Snyder, a former GOP nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Not only is he a longtime Republican, but he's worked with Donald Trump's political consultant, Roger Stone. According to Republicans for Hillary's "About" page, Snyder and Stone even co-founded the consulting firm IKON Public Affairs together in 1998. (Stone has recently accused Clinton's top aide of being a "Saudi spy" and terrorist.)

So for Snyder to be a vocal Clinton supporter is not business as usual. Why is this happening?

"Donald Trump must be defeated."

"Why we are doing this has been well argued in two recent essays by the writer, Adam Gopnik, of the New Yorker," the Republicans for Hillary website proclaims. The essays are vehemently against Donald Trump ("He’s not Hitler, as his wife recently said? Well, of course he isn’t. But then Hitler wasn’t Hitler—until he was," Gopnik writes in one).

But they also make a logical argument for Clinton. "God knows, it is bitterly hard to defer to a long-standing political enemy," Gopnik writes, "but it is insane to equate a moderate, tested professional politician with a crypto-fascist."

Although Republicans for Hillary lists several policy disagreements with Clinton on their home page, their conclusion is clear: "Donald Trump must be defeated."

"I can’t believe I’m endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, but I am."

The massacre at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, which left 50 dead and 53 injured, inspired another longtime Republican to embrace Clinton.

"I can’t believe I’m endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, but I am," Former Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.) told The Hill. "This morning, I woke up and told my wife, 'Did I really do that?' But I did. If someone had told me 10 years ago I would do this, I wouldn’t have believed them."

Pressler notes that what happened in Orlando was the final push he needed. "We need to go the route of more gun control as a result of Orlando and all the other shootings that have occurred," he told The Hill. "But it’s almost as though Republicans are saying gun control shouldn’t be part of the conversation at all."

He also told The Hill that he's uncomfortable with Trump's anti-Muslim language. "This election is starting to sound like the German elections in [the late 1920s]. This is a very dangerous national conversation we’re slipping into."

"I'm not going to say never."

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) isn't throwing her full support behind Clinton, but she's not entirely eliminating the option either.

"This is a difficult choice, and it’s one, like many of my colleagues, that I am struggling with," Collins told Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker. "It’s not like we have perfect candidates from whom to choose in this election."

She went on to say, "I worked very well with Hillary when she was my colleague in the Senate and when she was Secretary of State. But I do not anticipate voting for her this fall. I’m not going to say never, because this has been such an unpredictable situation, to say the least."

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