Forum: What’s a Republican to think of a once-Grand Old Party?

By Sid Roberts / Herald Forum

I have mostly voted for Republican candidates throughout my entire life. I have also voted for Democrats on occasion, including Jimmy Carter, Rick Larsen and others. I lean socially and fiscally conservative, so voting mostly Republican has always seemed logical to me.

The issue now for me is that the group we call Republicans has changed. The tradtional Republican Grand Old Party is hard to find now and the new MAGA iteration is taking over like cancer cells.

Let me cite three reasons that allow me to make this statement:

First, as the Republican Party began to lose national elections, it apparently went looking for a bad boy. While not the sharpest tool in the box, Trump thrives on fake news and being combative. In time, Trump became the brazen hero for this MAGA version of the Republican Party.

A man known more for slick deals than rational policy, Trump was pushed by the Republicans without much concern regarding his character. Instead of presidential decorum, he perfected public potty-mouth and spoke what his devotees wanted to hear. In Trump, they found a bully who would say things publicly that they apparently believe but can’t say. He was readily willing to tell both the Democrats, and the undocumented residents, where to go. This apparently made the Republican base very happy.

Amazingly, the religious right in the Republican Party also supported Trump and embraced the new MAGA movement. They didn’t seek a humble servant leader that mirrored their faith beliefs but mysteriously gave the right hand of fellowship to a heathen. Much of the religious right, instead of being a source of the Good News, became preachers of the Trump brand. Now you can even buy a Trump bible, a book he doesn’t follow, but one he claims is on par with his own book, “The Art of the Deal.”

Secondly, the hard-right political turn of Republicans coincided with the formation of the Moral Majority and Newt Gingrich’s so-called “Contract with America.” Rather than focusing on true conservative principles and working democratically and diplomatically to formulate and effectuate policy, they used tricks and stunts. They tried, mostly without success, to bully. It didn’t work.

Finally, and first introduced during Ronald Reagan’s candidacy, was the early talk of MAGA. Republicans, in time, began to obsess over trying to return America to its great past.

However, it remains unclear to me when that time was. In any event, they now had an agenda and act as if they had all the answers and saw the Democrats as pathetic losers.

As the genuine Republican Party was pushed aside, Trump’s son, Eric Trump, postulated in 2022 that the Republican Party was now the Trump Party. True Republicans, those with good conservative principles and integrity, like Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney, were seen as traitors.

The Trump scheme is an all or nothing endeavor. You either love and back Trump or you back out.

While true conservative principles have been compromised, I honestly believe these principles are essential to help balance the direction of this country. Markets matter and are often more important than government programs and mandates. Social issues also matter to the long-term course of this country. I worry that the progressive push for social issues has partially driven the hard right turn and politics of MAGA. What we need is to come back to the middle and work with those across the aisle to get stuff done. Extreme politics and intolerance don’t work.

Bob Dylan wrote a song with a great lyric: “I used to care, but things have changed.” May I say that I used to be a good Republican, but things have changed. I have hope that many, especially those who are of faith, will spit out the Kool-Aid and come back to their senses. There are many good conservatives, and millions in the Christian church with good and honest faith.

These policies and these people need to step up now more than ever.

It is true that the Trump cult has stunk up the political room of the Republican Party. In fact, the raid on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, will go down as a defilement of the secular temple of the United States of America. This one corrupt event, and the corresponding associated election denial, is one of the worst scandals in the political history of our county.

This must not happen again.

I believe this tomfoolery will pass, and I have hope that the Grand Old Party will come to its senses and once again be a leader in the truth.

Sid Roberts is Mayor of Stanwood.