The principled vote must also account for likely consequences.
Regarding your first point, the Left is proficient at deceit, and I wouldn’t say conservatives grant permission to be defined. Conservatives don’t necessarily campaign as well as they govern, so keep that in mind when applying canon.
“The principled vote must also account for likely consequences.”
Absolutely. And that includes making a decision to vote in the first place. If I vote for someone, that means that I, no one else, *I* am taking responsibility for that political candidate and what they do once elected. You vote for someone and they turn out to be a squish or a crook, then you have no one to blame but yourself for failing to adequately vet the candidate or taking the moral high road and refusing to vote at all.
I take my share of blame for the current governor of VA who has turned out to be not only a tax hiking RINWAD, but ethically challenged as well. I’m ashamed to say that I voted for him. I’m NOT willing to do a replay. I think it far more morally defensible to refrain from voting than to vote for a candidate because they’re somewhat less repugnant than the other candidate.