Centrist Republicans need to speak up
As someone who has spent more than a decade working for the oldest centrist Republican organization in the United States, I admit that we have fought a losing battle for most of this time.
From the rise of the Tea Party in 2010 to the election of Donald Trump in 2016, centrists have largely been relegated to the margins of the Republican political scene — content with promoting bromides about the importance of working together while those on the political right win elections and muscle through their priorities on Capitol Hill.
Yet, if you are a centrist, now is not the time to concede defeat. Far from it.
For as the tragic events on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol made clear, the divide in the Republican Party is no longer between the center and the right wing. The divide in today’s GOP is between the insurrectionist wing and everyone else.
If you are a principled centrist or principled conservative, now is not the time to remain silent. To do so will lead to more of the same — a party devoid of principles and dominated by personalities.
It also will lead to centrists and conservatives being challenged by those who stand with and cheered on the insurrectionist wing.
Take Alaska, which Lisa Murkowski has represented in the U.S. Senate since 2003. Murkowski is conservative on some issues, and more centrist on others. The Ripon Forum recently featured the senator on its cover because of the bipartisan energy reform proposal she has authored that not only acknowledges the threat posed by climate change, but also strikes a balance between meeting our current energy needs while pursuing clean energy for the future.
Last fall, when some questioned whether Murkowski would support the Trump administration’s nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsberg on the Supreme Court, former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin posted a video on Twitter warning Murkowski to “do the right thing” by supporting the yet-to-be named nominee. Implying that she might challenge Murkowski in the next election if she did not, Palin then added: “I see 2022 from my window.”
When Palin campaigned in Georgia in the run-up to the runoff election, she claimed the Nov. 3 general election had been “rigged.” Around that same time, her website published an interview with Melissa Carone, the Rudy Guilianibacked witness in Michigan who reminded people of a drunk Cecily Strong.
In the interview on Palin’s website,
Carone repeated unsubstantiated claims that Dominion Voting Machines in Michigan had been tampered with and that the state had been delivered to Joe Biden as a result.
Does any rational Republican believe that Palin would be a more effective and responsible member of the Senate Republican Caucus than Murkowski? And yet in states and congressional districts across the country, like-minded candidates are no doubt considering similar campaigns.
In 2022, each would-be Republican candidate must be held to account for their actions in the days and weeks leading up to Jan. 6.
Fortunately, members of the business community are beginning to do just that. Over the weekend, Forbes reported that Marriott International, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Commerce Bank were indefinitely suspending contributions to any official who voted against certifying the election of Joe Biden after the attack on the Capitol.
According to this same report, Bank of America, Ford Motor Co. and AT&T plan to “take recent events into consideration before making future donations,” while CVS Health Corp., Exxon Mobil, FedEx and Target also plan to review their political giving.
If the business community has the courage to step up, centrist Republicans should, too. Ten years ago, centrists stood by — aghast — as a member of their own ranks, then-Congressman and former Delaware Governor Mike Castle, was upset by Christine O’Donnell in the state’s GOP primary.
O’Donnell’s rise was rapid. She was embraced by the Tea Party, and then soundly defeated by centrist Democrat Chris Coons in the general election because of her extreme views.
That seat was Castle’s to lose. If it hadn’t been for O’Donnell’s challenge, it would be in Republican hands today. More significantly, the Senate would still be under GOP control.
O’Donnell was a relative unknown and did not have a record to defend. The members of today’s insurrection wing are known to all and do have a record. Which is why — if you are a principled centrist or a principled conservative who would like to be in the majority and cares about the future of the GOP — now is not the time to stay silent.
Rather, it is time to stand up to the insurrectionists who would like to carry the GOP banner in 2022 and have them answer one question: After fomenting a rebellion that claimed five lives and desecrated our nation’s Capitol, why are you still fit to serve?