In 2002, I became President of a small minority group at my
liberal arts university: our chapter of the College Republicans. I had come of
political age during the exciting time of a Texas Governor being elected to the
highest office. George W. Bush was a successful governor who met regularly with
Democrats and accomplished much of his agenda for our great state. I was proud
to be a Texan, and being a conservative meant reasonably limiting government
and encouraging innovation and private enterprise.
But September 11, 2001 came and impacted our generation and changed
our country forever. Conservatives and Republicans somehow progressively lost
touch with the majority of Americans and continued in power by playing the game
well enough – dividing Americans through social stances and then courting and securing
their extreme base.
Limited government was the principle, until it came to women
making decisions about their bodies or about people being able to marry whoever
they love. Compromise gave way to obstructionism, solely based on party lines.
Leadership meant sound bites to appease the far right or to ensure support by a
small transient Tea Party force. Enacting policy no longer required facts based
on evidence or science, because fact is no longer something to be proven or
disproven but rather something to be heated, molded, and pointed in the desired
direction by a think tank or a lobbyist to fit a narrative.
That was just the tip of an apparently growing ice berg in
the face of the overwhelming evidence pointing towards the existence climate
change. That ice block was swelling and hardening to buoy the candidacy of
Donald Trump. Rising inequality has left many Americans feeling left out and Trump
successfully harnessed this sentiment and crafted it into a message of
xenophobia, insulation, and hatred.
The Republicans had the opportunity to squash his candidacy.
At one point there were 15 other primary candidates, and I’m sure others on
deck, and the party leadership could have found a way to ensure Trump was not
their man. But, they did nothing, or not enough. And thus, they deserve any
landslide coming their way. In fact, deep Republican losses all the way down
the ballot may be what is necessary to ensure the Republican leadership hears
the message loud enough to force an honest look in the mirror to inspire change.
A Democratic landslide victory could even make way for a brand new, ideally
centrist, third party or a completely rebranded Republican party.
Some argue that the Trump candidacy will damage the
Republican party for at least a generation. Whatever the case, to win back any
semblance of a diverse or young coalition of support, multiple transplants, far
beyond a makeover, will be necessary.
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Yesterday, I entered the beautiful and secure US Embassy
complex in Kampala to take the Foreign Service Officer Test, and I thought
about how our next President will guide and protect our interests around the
world. Following the test, I went home and completed my absentee ballot and,
for the first time since I was old enough to vote for President, did not vote for
the Republican candidate. In an increasingly more complex world, the last thing
we need is a President Trump.