The Republican Party May Be A Lost Cause

As the dust settled surrounding the second Trump impeachment, we started to see the statements of Republicans and their future actions come into view. We saw some previous Trump supporters, like Nikki Haley, come out and attack the President as they start to lay the groundwork for their 2024 Presidential runs. As we continue to hear the statements, what we are learning is that the Republican party may be a lost cause.

In 2016 and again in 2020, Americans told Republicans that they were more interested in the policies of President Trump than the populist policies that most Republicans favored. While the Romney and Bush Republicans were arguing for a more centrist approach, the majority backed a man who was anything but a centrist.

Trump’s policy was that of less taxes, less regulation, and more freedom. He favored decreased government regulation, promoted states’ rights, and was not interested in his party over doing the right thing. That’s why he was elected and that’s why he remains popular.

I am not discounting the fact that Trump was rough on the personality side. Sure, his statements could be harsh and offensive. That’s what Americans wanted though. They wanted someone that was not afraid to speak the truth. They wanted someone that was not going to say one thing publicly while doing something else behind the scenes. Americans have become so accustomed to politicians that will say one thing but do something else entirely when they may face little to no consequences.

After the impeachment trial ended, we see that Republicans are attempting to move back to their populist form of leadership. That more centralized party view that gave them an election loss in 2012 with Mitt Romney as their candidate. They failed to learn any lessons of the past few years and their statements and actions show it.

The Hill shared an article that shared many comments by Republicans about moving on from President Trump. In one statement, one Senator said he was more concerned about building a party that would bring more people to it. Yes, they are more willing to compromise their views than to do the right thing. They are more interested in being popular so they can remain in power than to stand for the Constitution.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said the party needed to retain Trump voters in a way that was unifying and optimistic. He said that the floor was open for people that want to articulate a vision and to step up and lead. Again, the Senators refuse to acknowledge their role is to represent the American people. It is not to tell the American people what they are going to do.

The Republican party continues to act like a repressive smaller version of the Democratic Party. At least the Democrats say exactly what they are going to do when they get into power. Their radical agenda is not hidden. Their followers say that they want socialism, and the Democratic Party delivers. They tell you that they want to raise the minimum wage, to address equality, and to work to save the planet from climate change. As soon as their leaders get into office, they start working on just that, albeit by executive order which is a disaster all in itself.

Then we have the Republicans, who were powered into leadership in both chambers of Congress and the White House on the backs of fixing healthcare, lowering taxes, reducing regulation, addressing the national debt, and more. The only thing that they accomplished of those major points as a party was passing Trump’s tax plan. All of the rest of the measures that were addressed were addressed via executive order by President Trump.

With control of both chambers of Congress, Republicans could have easily passed a bill to address healthcare, reduce regulation (that could not be altered with a simple executive order), and work toward balancing the budget. Yet, in four years they were more interested in continuing their political games leaving President Trump to work on his policy alone. Do you get the picture?

Trump commented as the party front-runner in 2016 that the party’s platform had grown stale and was out of touch with voters. He shared that the party was losing interest among people because they were ignoring the concerns of voters and failing to address those issues. They continue to ignore those concerns and go down the same path as before.

The time has come that conservatives across the country that have placed their faith in the Republican party to either take back the party, or abandon it altogether. In its current state, there is no saving the party that wants to claim all the great things that it has done in the past. The current state of the party leaves it unable to accomplish anything of use to the American people that they claim to represent.

The easiest solution is for conservatives to start taking over the party once again at the local level. They should start by focusing on running real conservatives in their local and state government races that will be decided in November. They can then start focusing on the additional state and national races that will be up for election in 2022. This is not about just getting a Republican in a seat, but rather a real conservative that is focused on actually serving American interests.

If there is not a major change in the party in the immediate future, the only other solution may be a third party. Some of those establishment Republicans have indicated that they may have an interest in breaking away and starting their own party. Let them! Their populist form of government may appeal to some, but it will not appeal to true conservatives that want to save our country from career politicians that are setting us on a crash course for destruction.

No matter what happens, a major change is necessary for the Republican party to be a viable option going into the future. While establishment Republicans may be ready to move on from the man named President Trump, their voters are not ready to move on from the movement that he started.