I dumped a guy I was dating in 2016 after he said he could not vote Dem....because low property taxes were his priority. Imagine, a gay man voting for his own oppression, because his family were landholders. Took him about two years to accept his vote had been a mistake.

Voting for the good of the country IS voting my own best interest. Way more that pocketbook voting.

I “vote my interests,” but these are not limited to my wallet, though that’s included. I always liked Jefferson’s concept of an “enlightened self-interest,” and believe that a society that is broadly democratic politically and economically, whose residents feel safe and included in opportunity, and which is not burdened by numerous “have nots” is more stable and sustainable.

To me, that is the true definition of patriotism, to put the general welfare of the country ahead of your own personal ambition or comfort. That does not include blind loyalty to the government, blind support for all wars, the troops, and the MIC, and it esp. does not include the rah rah nationalism and support of American exceptionalism. Those people are not patriots, they are merely selfish, ignorant nationalists who care only about their own tribe withing American society.

Voting his pocketbook is an excuse. It's to cover the shame of voting Republican.