I see the Democratic Party as utterly opposed to many of my core values — including the defense of life and religious liberty. I see its progressive base committed to a brand of identity politics that is noxious, toxic, and often bigoted. And I saw Hillary Clinton as thoroughly corrupt and just as unfit for the presidency. She should have been prosecuted for mishandling national defense information, not nominated by her party to run for the nation’s highest office.
The Never Trumpers who crossed party lines and voted for Hillary disagreed with some or all of these assessments. None of them had that much affection for Hillary, but most of them saw her as a conventional Democratic politician with perhaps an above-average number of flaws. Many of them aren’t socially conservative and might even feel a degree of hostility to the religious conservative wing of the GOP. If you’re not pro-life (or indifferent to culture war issues), if you favor increased gun control, and if you feel a degree of cultural alienation from many of the GOP’s exurban and rural voters, then voting for Hillary and even allying with the #Resistance is a much more natural fit. Some folks seem to be on a glide path to becoming Democrats — or perhaps starting a third party that better fits their more centrist world view.
