I’m a life-long Republican. My political affiliation has been woven intrinsically into the very fabric of my being.
My first political act was passionately lobbying my fourth-grade classmates to vote for Reagan over Walter Mondale in a mock election in 1984. As an adult, I continued to be a rock-solid Republican- I helped run my law school’s chapter of the Federalist Society and its Republican club. And after the election of President Obama in 2008, I served as an officer in my state Republican Party. For the next two years, I devoted substantial amounts of my time, my talent, and my treasure to supporting local candidates running for office and to building the Party organization.
Today, however, I am a registered Republican no longer.
I came to the decision to leave the GOP not with a heavy heart, but with a broken one.
As a local GOP official after President Obama’s election, I had a front-row seat as it became infected by a dangerous and virulent form of political rabies.
In the grip of this contagion, the Republican Party has come unhinged. Its fevered hallucinations involve threats from imaginary communists and socialists who, seemingly, lurk around every corner. Climate change- a reality recognized by every single significant scientific body and academy in the world- is a liberal conspiracy conjured up by Al Gore and other leftists who want to destroy America. Large numbers of Republicans- the notorious birthers- believe that the President was not born in the United States. Even worse, few figures in the GOP have the courage to confront them.
Republican economic policies are also indefensible. The GOP constantly claims its opponents are engaged in “class warfare,” but this is an exercise in projection. In Republican proposals, the wealthy win, and the rest of us lose- one only has to look at Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget to see that.
As Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein have written, “the Republican Party, has become an insurgent outlier—ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence, and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.” Its reckless behavior helps drive the political dysfunction crippling our nation.
In the end, it offers a dystopian vision of our future- a harsher, crueler and more merciless America starkly divided between the riders, and the ridden.
From the moment the Tea Party emerged on the scene, I had a premonition that I would eventually have to leave the GOP. But my mind conjured innumerable reasons for delay- for putting off the day of reckoning in the desperate hope that some game-changing miracle would occur, such as a victory by Governor Jon Huntsman in the Republican presidential primary.
But no miracle happened. Among all the difficult truths I’ve had to face, perhaps none has been harder than the realization that I, and those dissidents like me, are unrepresentative outliers far removed from, and largely unable to influence, the main currents of opinion within the GOP.
Ultimately, leaving the GOP was necessary in order to maintain my own integrity. Leaving is also a public act of personal protest. I am under no illusions about its broader significance- it will have no impact on the trajectory of the political narrative in this nation. But that does not make it futile. On the contrary, as the shadows lengthen, such minor individual acts of defiance and dissent are more critical now than ever before.
Perhaps, one day, a reformed and responsible Republican Party will reemerge.
But until then, the GOP and I have reached a parting of the ways. In the poignant words of “Kathleen Mavourneen,” an old Irish ballad: “It may be for years, and it may be forever”
Michael Stafford is a former Republican Party officer and the author of “An Upward Calling.” Michael can be reached at anupwardcalling@yahoo.com
This column has been edited by the author. Representations of fact and opinions are solely those of the author.
I couldn’t agree more, but the real problem is I’m just as disenchanted by the Democrats as I am by the Republicans. I have a faint hope that all the ideological positions that Romney once had will be reinstated if he gets elected — note I said “faint hope.”
You better hope and vote for ideological ideas like ‘hard work’ ‘integrity’ responsibility’ ‘common sense’ ‘character’ ‘pride’ ‘industry will out’ because these have been replaced by ‘anything, anywhere, anytime’.
IN CLOSING, THE GOVERMENT DOES MAKE MONEY, IT SPENDS MONEY. Goverment or public sector jobs cost money, they don’t earn a cent.
I feel your pain. It would be so much better for our country if the Republican party would return to sanity instead of chasing away sensible members like you. Hopefully the party will shake off the crazy so we can again have two parties that respect each other and can work together for the good of the American people. I fear we have a few more years of increased “crazy” before they get back to reality.
OBAMA 2012
I can tell from your name you’re lost.
‘work together’ for what? Public service jobs? ‘Rights’ for the ‘anything, anywhere, anytime’ crowd?
If your idea of ‘reality’ is more spending on everything the government wants to be in charge of, this country and you are gone. What happened to good hard work? Industry? Pull yourself up by your bootstraps? Shame? Responsibility? Character? Pride? Family? Integrity? They are words from the past in America. Lost to ENTITLEMENT AND ATTITUDE, which have taken the place of hard work and common sense.
As a self professed long time liberal, I feel your pain. I do remember actually voting for Mondale in 1984 but back then we could have a political argument without accusing the other of being un-American or a commie, etc.. It seemed that having that debate of ideas was a lesson in understanding and now it is a base of insults and rhetoric at best.
Obama has spent $5 TRILLION on ‘shovel ready jobs’ that weren’t, he later said so. The country is in a $16 Trillion debt crisis, and what does is he ‘want’ to do? Spend another $5 or $10 Trillion for government public sector jobs. Fireman, police, school teachers, construction (infrastructure). All of these ‘sound’ good, who doesn’t want more fireman, but ALL of these COST money, they don’t make a dime for the economy, only cost more tax dollars.
This is laughable. You built the fire, fanned the flames, and watched as the heat engulfed us all. Now you’re done? You have created a fascist army, now deal with it. The rest of us have to.
K
I have to say I am a democrat but I never minded a republican I knew that there was a need to even out each other but it is no longer that way very sad times for any person not in the top 1 percent
I thought I was a democrat in my young and foolish youth. I came t realize that party wanted to tax me, to give to those who could or would not work for themselves. Unaffiliated for years, until wife and I wanted to support a Republican, in Colorado. In next few years I met state and federal legislators who really did consult, and accept our opinions. However, we now have two major parties who should change their names to WE TAX AND SPEND, with 2nd one: WE WILL NOT CONTINUE THE SPENDING and the Tea Party supports those. Unfortunately we still have the “big spenders” in both parties(called democrat and republican) and they need to be weeded out. Term limits would be nice, voting them out better, but hopefully many will leave when the gravy train leaves town. And I do not see Tea Party as offensive, evil, or violent. MAIN BELIEF IS: STOP SPENDING, LOW TAXES, AND STRONG MILITARY. We saw the arrogance of Obama today, when he tried to tell Cleveland people how his policies had put them to work since 2010. Strange how high unemployment was in that area under Governor Strickland, but work numbers improved under Governor Kasich after 2010. I was born in Ohio in 1929, and did not return to Ohio to live and work in 1954 because of union and democrat control. Even with my job waiting , and after 90 days update training , move to Indiana to manage A&P store. All in writing but I chose to stay with Military to retire in 1976.
Obama does not show me true American spirit, in claiming success of another. And he does not make decisions when needed, but delays to lead from behind. He spent (by his policies) close to 6 trillion in this period, and God help us if he gets the credit card extended. I really think Wisconsin vote should be studied, and followed by other states. Also I worked in 4 major unions in my life, and none of them did anything for me except take my dues (forced and mandatory by company or state).
https://yfrog.com/z/gyhljig
Facts don’t matter to Republicans. That was the point being made.
Employment numbers improved under Kasich because Ohio was a major beneficiary of Obama’s bailout of GM.
Oh, by the way- it’s the “Democratic” party, not the “Democrat” party. “Democrat” is a noun.
Taxes are at the lowest rates in generations, and the Bush cuts are still in place. Stop whining.
You are clearly one of the off-the-rails Republicans who helped destroy the once great and honorable GOP.
It’s the DEMOCRAT party, not Democratic.
Was surprised to see this in my local rag. BUT, I know there are many other Republicans out there who feel this way – upset about the direction their party has taken. Unlike Michael, they’re terrified to speak out because of the potential backlash. So, kudos to him for having the bravery to express his opinion. We need more like him.
In the 50’s, Republicans rejected the John Birch Society. Eisenhower was called a communist by Birchers.
This extremism in American politics is nothing new, but +40 yrs of Republican strategists embracing what they rejected in the 50s with the likes of Roger Ailes, Kevin Phillips, Pat Buchanan, Lee Atwater and Karl Rove leading the way has finally poisoned the well.
Humorous side notes: Co-founder of the John Birch Society was a fellow named Fred Koch [yes, Daddy to the Koch brothers], who had lived in Russia for 11 years and worked with Stalin [look it up] .. Fred apparently decided that Stalin’s methods of getting wealth and power weren’t his cup of tea, so he decided to embrace Mussolini’s ideals, and infest America with them, instead.
Voila, and there we have it.
Congratulations Michael, for finally figuring it out.
The Republican party stands for ‘tradition’ and for ‘morals’, the Dems are on the path to a European Socialist type of system (and hasn’t it worked well there?) ‘Anything, anywhere, anytime”.
So the ‘rants against imagined threats, with commies and socialists lurking everywhere’ are true. Just read these words outloud, ‘REDISTRIBUTE THE WEALTH’ say it again and again, what does it mean to you? It can only mean one thing, SOCIALISM, or it’s big, more corrupting brother COMMUNISM.
So go your merry way with the Dems, soon they will have more minority groups running this country, along with atheists, homosexuals, transgenders, cross-dressers, and occupiers.
I will stand with the traditonal ways and norms, ‘the good old days’.
PS The important thing you forgot to mention about ‘global warming’ is the cause. Is the climate getting warmer, slightly. The debate between equal groups of scientists (not the Al Gore’s of this world) is what’s causing it. Cyclical is my bet.