Boehner: ‘There is no Republican Party’
Former House Speaker John Boehner, who recently joined the board of a cannabis company, seems to be having the time of his life. Appearing with a bloody mary, Boehner criticized the GOP’s reversion to protectionism and mused at an appearance in Detroit: “There is no Republican Party,” he said, “There’s a Trump party. The Republican Party is kinda taking a nap somewhere.”
Meanwhile, Boehner’s fellow Ohioan, Gov. John Kasich, was sounding off on CNN about the refusal by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to bring to the floor a bill to fix the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — which President Donald Trump rescinded — because Trump wouldn’t sign it. “I think he’s dead wrong . . . . Let him veto it.” Kasich declared that his fellow Republicans are “afraid . . . that someone on the far right will get angry and yell at them.”
Wow. Why aren’t these guys leading the GOP? The answer is that they’ve been ostracized by an angry, populist, nativist party led by a demagogue. The party, which was once their home, has become inhospitable to the likes of Kasich, Boehner, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., former Pennsylvania Gov. and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge (who happened to be pro-choice), the Bush family, former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and a slew of state and federal office holders who defended the rule of law, free markets, robust legal immigration, public civility, education reform and principled international leadership. They were not on the far right edge of the party, but they operated comfortably within the party, which did not give its nomination to right-wing nativists until 2016. It was not too long ago that someone such as Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., was considered a solid conservative.
Supporting such officeholders were lively think tanks, conservative magazines and respected academics who represented a cross-section of views, not scientific and economic illiteracy or racial intolerance. They’ve now been largely drowned out by the likes of Breitbart, Fox News’ prime-time hosts, crackpot advocacy groups and grossly hypocritical evangelical leaders who applaud the president’s cruel policies and ignore his lies, affairs and bigotry.
While Boehner has loosened up a bit (and says, for example, he thinks differently about gay rights), it is not he who has changed dramatically. Like many Republicans, he simply does not recognize the party he served for decades. I’d like to think Boehner is right, and the real GOP is only sleeping. Unfortunately, I see few if any elected leaders willing to rouse the party. The base’s increasing passion for vitriol, race-baiting and attacks on the media make one skeptical about the prospects for success for a GOP challenger in the 2020 presidential primary.
Mitt Romney says he voted for his wife in 2016, but he and legions of other Republicans not to mention center-right independents need a viable choice in 2020. That means an anti-Trump counterrevolution that cleans house of Trumpians and Trumpism, a viable independent candidate or a Democrat so moderate that marooned voters feel comfortable clamoring aboard a party in which they’ve never belonged. The other alternative is that, once again, these Republicans waste their votes on protest candidates and favorite relatives or don’t show up at all. That may please the left-wing of the Democratic Party, which can feel comfortable nominating a candidate who appeals solely to its base, but it is not good for our democracy.