How a good Republican lost my vote

Over the years that Trump had been turning the GOP into an ideological dumpster fire Spencer Cox has consistently been one of the shrinking cohort of Republicans that managed to keep acting like the pre-Trump GOP—advocating for social conservatism, limited government, and a strong economy.

Apparently having a very concerning version of Joe Biden on the ballot meant that a failed assassination attempt was all the excuse he needed to endorse Trump. With that, he lost my vote.

If Cox had simply encouraged Trump publicly to try unifying the nation I could accept that but getting shot at isn’t any qualification to hold office. Anyone who can’t recognize that Trump is uniquely and permanently unqualified to ever again hold office will find it extremely difficult to get my vote.

I don’t expect a large number of voters would be like me and abandon Cox over this but if they did (and if Phil Lyman could miraculously duplicate his primary results by collecting 45% of the GOP vote) we could end up with a democratic Governor in Utah and serve as an example to the national GOP of just how toxic Trump should have been politically ever since January 6th (the day he lost any remaining shred of qualification to hold office).