So to my mind the strongest conservative argument against voting for Trump was one I almost never heard made, but one that is now at risk of being painfully vindicated. (1/5)

Voting, however much people may try to say it's just pulling a lever to influence policy, is a form of symbolic identification, a psychological investment. (2/5)

Once you've made that psychological investment, you have sunk cost. You feel like your own credibility is to some extent on the line with your candidate's credibility or success. (3/5)

Once you're in this state, you become sorely tempted to grasp at explanations that would save you from the pain of losing that investment. You want to believe that your candidate didn't actually lose. (4/5)

If the candidate is someone who might stoop so low as to inflame these natural passions, things get really dangerous really fast. (5/5)