title:  Longtime Republican Strategist Just Cast Her Vote For Hillary
text: This is not something that happens every day, but it s exactly what Ana Navarro did on Monday.Navarro has been a Republican since Ronald Reagan was in office, but the rise of Donald Trump as the GOP nominee has disgusted her so much that she denounced the party said she would be writing in her mother s name on her ballot rather than give a vote to Trump.But Navarro changed her mind after thinking about the close election in Florida in 2000 in which George W. Bush won by a mere 537 votes. As a Florida resident, Navarro doesn t want a repeat that send Trump to the White House.So she cast her vote for Hillary and told the world all about it in a column published on CNN.I had hoped that a week before the election, Trump would be losing Florida by a large enough margin that my vote wouldn t matter. But darn it, my home state is too close to call. Florida could be the decisive state (again) as to who ultimately becomes the next president of the United States. I thought back to the 2000 election, which was decided by 537 votes in Florida. I thought about how I would feel if the same thing happened in 2016. I thought and I thought and I thought .Then I cast my vote for Hillary Clinton. Let me rephrase that. I cast my vote against Donald Trump. I did it without joy or enthusiasm. I did it out of civic duty and love for our country.Navarro, who is an immigrant, said she voted against Trump because of the way he has insulted and demonized immigrants like her over the past year and half. On the first day of his campaign, Trump called Mexicans  rapists  and as a Hispanic immigrant that infuriated Navarro. I voted against Donald Trump for every American who looks and sounds like me,  Navarro wrote.  Because we love this country. We are proud of this country. We stand as equals in the United States of America. Trump has also repeatedly insulted women, and as a woman herself, that disgusted Navarro to her core. I voted against Donald Trump because of all women in my life who have been sexually harassed or assaulted and remained silent, bearing the embarrassment, even shame, for years,  she continued.And Trump has also insulted disabled Americans, which made this election gave Navarro a more personal reason to vote against Trump.I voted against Trump because of Daniel Navarro, my severely disabled brother. My entire life, I have been pained and angered seeing young kids stare at him and mimic his disability. I had never seen a grown man mimic a disabled person. Trump did so in front of thousands of people at one of his rallies. In front of millions of people watching on TV. Most of us would punish our children for exhibiting such behavior.For Navarro it came down to choosing a candidate who has bad character or a candidate who made some bad judgments. In the end, Navarro voted for the latter because she believes a president needs to be a role model for children and while bad judgments can be avoided in the future, bad character won t change.She slammed Trump for being a terrible role model and blasted him for calling our democratic system rigged just because he is losing. And that s why she urged everyone to use their vote as a weapon to defeat Trump. Some tell me, in 2016 we should no longer expect the president of the United States to be a role model,  Navarro wrote.  I refuse to accept that. The president of the United States has to lift us all in moments of national grief. The president of the United States has to hug the children and spouses of fallen soldiers. That person represents us all. That person is recognized as the face and the voice for America in front of the rest of the world, and more importantly, by our children. A person supported by the Klu Klux Klan and its former Grand Wizard David Duke can never represent me. He can never be a role model for me.We each have a right and a duty to make a personal choice based on those things that are most important to us, that we value most. My conscience compels me to do every little thing I can to make sure a bad person is not our next president. In America, we don t choose our leaders through violence or armed insurrections.One vote is our right. One vote is our weapon. I am exercising mine against Donald Trump.Donald Trump is so toxic that many Republicans like Navarro have jumped ship to endorse or vote for Hillary Clinton. So much so that some red states such as Texas, Arizona, and Georgia are in play for the Democrats this year and may end up becoming battleground states in elections to come. That s how bad Republicans screwed up by choosing Trump as their leader.Featured Image: Twitter