Need a challenger

Like many Americans, I find myself in the unenviable position of feeling politically homeless. As a young adult, I have witnessed the Republican Party effectively drift from the party of Ronald Reagan to the party of Donald Trump.

Economic policy, once based on free trade and deregulation, has been replaced by protectionism, tariffs and economic nationalism. President George W. Bush’s compassionate call for amnesty and comprehensive immigration reform are ancient history in the face of the cruelty of forced child separation and ICE raids on families. A foreign policy based on American leadership in international institutions and the championing of democracy has devolved to incoherence of principle and appeasement of autocrats.

On nearly all accounts, Mr. Trump stands in opposition to the tenets of American conservatism and — more important — the values that make the United States exceptional. Our country is great because what it means to be an American is not based upon what you look like, where you are from, whom you love or which deity you pray to. Mr. Trump’s recent tweet suggesting that four Democratic congresswomen should “go back” to where they came from is beyond grotesque. It is an indefensible play to the tribalism that the foundations of American society reject.

Elections may come and go, but matters of principle endure. If conservatives are to vote our conscience in the 2020 election, we will be unable to vote at all unless a conservative challenger to Mr. Trump emerges.

ANDREW R. ZENTGRAF

Oakmont