It's hard to be a Never-Trump Republican

Presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump inspired the overwhelming loyalty of their party's base, probably more than any other modern president. But not the same way.

Reagan articulated an optimistic philosophy of smaller government, lower taxes, anti-communism, and traditional values ​​that reflected what Republican voters believed. Trump has reshaped the Republican core, evoking an anti-trade and anti-immigration party that welcomes racists and winks at dictators. Of course, not all Republicans approve of Trump's dark worldview, but polls show that 90% of Republicans are Trump supporters

"Trump's control on the popular base is greater than that of Reagan ". and a former congressman who came to Washington in 1981 when Reagan arrived. "It's very personal."

There are prominent Republicans who are troubled by the worship of a dark and deceptive president.

One of them is Mitch Daniels, who has a distinguished Republican pedigree. He was Reagan's chief political advisor, the director of the office of management and budget under President George W. Bush, and a successful two-term governor of Indiana. Before Trump's rise, he would have been considered by well-informed, conservative and moderate Republicans, as a high-quality candidate for the presidency.

But now he says, "I feel homeless."

The Options For Dissatisfied Republicans Are Bad Or Worse: Voting For Democrats, Attacking Trump Or Waiting On January 21, 2021.

Conservative columnist George Will wrote in The Washington Post last month that Republicans should vote for Democrats this fall to check Trump's excesses and "affirm the nation's honor". His views were reinforced last week when Republican congressmen, including Jim Jordan of Ohio and Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, accused of false accusations against the Federal Bureau of Investigation and […] an effort to protect Trump and undermine the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 elections.

But few Republican politicians would be comfortable as Democrats .

Another option is to challenge Trump. Yet most Republicans are intimidated by the president's power to mobilize his supporters. Authentic conservatives such as Arizona senator Jeff Flake and South Carolina MP Mark Sanford have been ousted by Republican voters for simply questioning the behavior and rhetoric of the state. President

. the economic, national security and moral principles of the Republican Party. Kristol argues that Trump's support among the soldiers will diminish over time. Neither Flake nor Senator Ben Sbade, a Nebraska Conservative, ruled out taking over the incumbent in 2020.

Ohio Governor John Kasich, who was beaten for Trump's nomination in 2016, and his political advisor, John Weaver waters for another race. Some Republicans believe that the 2012 presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, who is likely to become a senator from Utah after November, should lead the opposition. But do not bet your salary on this development.

Savvy Republicans in Iowa and New Hampshire, including some who oppose Trump, are almost unanimous in their belief that Trump would be unbeatable today in Republican contests in their states. In New Hampshire, one of the states where Kasich was most active in 2016, Republican Senator Andy Sanborn is one of the leading Republican candidates for the presidency. Last week, Sanborn issued a call urging Republicans to consider their vote as a referendum on Trump. "An eternal itch for President Trump in 2020, Kasich hopes that Conservatives like me will fail," his letter says.

The third bad option for insane Republicans is to wait while working to lay the foundation for another. kind of party. The 2016 election, said Daniels, showed "how quickly politics can change, maybe it can still change."

As a Hoosier and now president of Purdue University, Daniels is a basketball fanatic. He said that Republicans could emulate the Philadelphia 76ers, the professional basketball team that suffered for three miserable years with the worst record of the National Basketball Association as they tried to build for the first time. to come up. "Trust the process," said the team to his followers

. This year they were a winning playoff team, but not a serious contender for the championship. To trust a political process for the next two and a half years does not seem very attractive either.

To contact the author of this page
Albert R. Hunt to [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jonathan Landman at [email protected]